Fair's fair
by Solara Myles
Summary: After the disastrous chunin exams it wasn't Sasuke that left the Hidden Leaf in search of power. Instead, Naruto, in a fit pain and rage after learning that Sasuke got all the credit, again, leaves the village vowing on his Ninja Way to never let Sasuke achieve his dream of killing his older brother. After all Sasuke stole his dream so it was only fair. Start from Konohamaru's POV
1. Chapter 1

**Fair's fair.**

**Prologue **

His movements were jerky, automatic, hardly their usual robust standards. Items were picked up, considered and then either discarded or stuffed into the mission bag in front of him.

Surprisingly, he didn't take the things he'd thought he would. Before becoming a genin he'd believed that he'd never be able to live without these little knickknacks and reminders of a life he now no longer wanted anything to do with.

One thing he refused to leave behind, no matter how much of a reminder it was, was the slightly inflated green frog that served as his keeper of money. Besides, it was the only one he had and it was darn useful, even if it was slightly empty right now thanks to that stupid pervert.

Satisfied that he'd assessed everything inside the little apartment he snapped the bag closed and swung it onto his shoulders, shifting it slightly so that he could find a comfortable position. There was only one thing left to do. Reaching next to him he picked up the blue material with the shiny metal plate attached to the middle. Reaching into his pouch he pulled out a sharpened kunai, raising it above the metal plate he paused, hesitated for the first time since reaching his decision. This was the one gift he treasured above everything else in his life, protected it like he would protect a precious person.

After all it had been a gift from his precious person. The first one to acknowledge his existence, really see him.

But then those words, said by that very same precious person burned through his mind once again and the kunai slashed before they'd even faded. Now instead of just a spiral leaf engraved into the metal plate, a straight and sure slash ran through it, deeper even than the leaf. It seemed fitting that way. That his pain caused by his village would be deeper than his loyalties to it.

The headband was tied tightly in place, slashed leaf proudly displayed for all who might see it, which at this late hour none would. His eyes landed on a bright orange outfit, hanging with three others in the slightly open closet. No, not even that would come with him. He owned other clothes, he just didn't wear them as often. For more reasons than others had ever bothered to decipher, to care about enough to ask.

With a nod of determined approval he swept his gaze over the surrounding area one last time before leaving out the door and closing it behind him with a soft click.

There would be no one to stop him, no one begging him not to go so he did not hurry. He wouldn't even be truly missed until two days from now. If he wasn't at training tomorrow, no one would know because he'd be training alone. As it was he'd just been released from the hospital.

He hadn't waited to see if those he'd fought so ferociously for had made it, had been healed. His heart had been in too much pain. Instead he'd pretended to be asleep when anyone came to see him and was far better at it than most would have thought.

No, he wouldn't be missed. No one had even come to catch him in his lie of being asleep. They'd all been far too busy congratulating _him_.

The only reason he'd be missed at all is because they'd be wondering why the hell he hadn't been in trouble yet and they always got nervous if nothing happened for two days. Even then, it was only nervous. No one would actually check on him till five days of inactivity had passed. He knew, knew it all too well. He'd tested those boundaries, just to see who'd come, if they'd come at all.

Standing at the wide open gates, he stopped for a moment to take one last deep breath. After this there was no going back. Well technically he had to get to the Land of Fire's border before there was truly no going back but he'd made up his mind once and for all with the slash of his headband. He knew better than anyone what that slash would mean.

He never went back on his word so there was no going back now.

"I swear, on my Ninja way. You will _never_ reach your dreams. I'll be there to stop you every time you try." He whispered, no one around to hear him but himself. But he felt he needed to say this all the same, needed to promise it to someone, even if that was only himself. "Because you stole mine from me."

Then he disappeared into the darkness, hiding his tracks far better than anyone would ever give him credit for, which was half the reason he was leaving in the first place.

* * *

Kakashi was still trying to wrap his head around the sight in front of him. The place looked like a hurricane had gone through it, yet at the same time it was an organised kind of chaos. Things weren't thrown across the room and sprawled on the floor in odd positions. No, things were neatly placed out of place. Like their owner had been looking for something and these items simply were not it.

That however was not what troubled the jonin-sensei. If there was one thing that sent off warning bells in his head it was the orange. Those nightmare inducing, eyeball burning orange outfits hanging in the closet. All four of them. Kakashi knew that the owner of said orange outfits only had four of them. He'd checked just to appease his own curiosity as to whether the boy wore the same clothes every day. He hadn't. He just had several of the same kind.

He winced when he realised he didn't even know how long it had been since the place had been abandoned and by the looks of things, that it had been.

"Sensei? Is he in there?" A worried voice asked from behind him.

Kakashi backed out of the place, a pale look on his face. He didn't know why but he felt like he'd lost something, something special. It was completely silly. He wasn't even supposed to be here at all. He'd come because he'd wanted to get rid of a certain pink haired student and her emo obsession. Apparently said emo obsession was in search of the once brightly clad teammate so that they could spar. Something about never getting a chance to see who was stronger in the chunin exams and perhaps something about settling a score.

"No. He's not." Kakashi whispered.

That mission he was supposed to go on would have to wait.

"Come on, we have to go to the Hokage, now." Kakashi had grown uncharacteristically serious.

Not even Sasuke protested with the usual glare. The two genin were forced to try desperately to keep up with the near frantic pace their sensei set in his haste to get to the Hokage tower. Not even bothering with the door the silver haired jonin went straight to the window. The office itself was in complete disarray, the new Hokage still trying to get everything in order.

"Kakashi! What are you doing here? I gave you a mission." Tsunade immediately barked in anger. "I know you haven't finished it yet since I just gave it to you."

"We have a bigger problem. Naruto's gone and by the looks of things . . . he left willingly." Kakashi reported much to the shock of his two teammates huffing slightly behind him. "But I can't be sure just exactly how long it's been."

"WHAT?"

"Naruto's gone and by the looks–" Kakashi began to repeat but Tsunade cut him off with a glare.

"Shizune! Get in here!" The black haired assistant squeaked in the other room before quickly hurrying into the Hokage's office with a quick yes mam.

"Get all the available genin in my office now!" Tsunade barked and Shizune didn't even stick around long enough to utter a Hai. "Kakashi. You are now the team leader of the Naruto Retrieval Team. This is a mission you can't afford to fail. You know the consequences if you do."

"Hn what makes that loser so special?" Sasuke drawled and suddenly found himself on the receiving end of some heavy killer intent.

Kakashi interrupted before the Hokage could maim the last Uchiha. "Because, despite what you think of the loud blonde idiot, in the wrong hands Naruto becomes a dangerous weapon, capable of destroying the Leaf Village, any hidden Village."

"Why would he leave?" Sakura's voice was very quiet, confused. She had never thought anything like this to come from her annoying teammate. If there was one thing she respected him for it was his infallible loyalty to the village.

"Never mind why. We have bigger problems than just the other hidden villages stumbling upon him. Don't forget about the Akatsuki." A new voice added gravely as the owner of the voice stepped through the same window as Kakashi had just moments ago.

"Jiraiya." Tsunade greeted stiffly.

"So Kakashi, not only do you have to not fail this mission for the sake of the village, but you have to complete this mission for Naruto's sake as well." Jiraiya summed up, causing the jonin to slump slightly under the pressure.

"I'll do my best but I'm not working with the best." Kakashi replied and reminded, his tone dark.

* * *

Naruto hid high in the trees, suppressing his chakra and not moving a muscle. Below him the familiar shock of silver hair announced the presence of his former sensei. He refused to think of the man as his sensei now. After all rogue ninja did not have sensei. One thing he came to the conclusion of. His appearance would need to change more than his clothes.

"Naruto, where are you." Kakashi sighed, his head hanging down instead of looking up to the clouds and as a consequence, missing the slight flash of a person moving at a high speed to another branch.

* * *

The Naruto Retrieval Team had been fool proof in their planning. Kakashi had been satisfied that they would be able to find the missing blonde teammate before he even made it to the boarder, no matter when he had left since there were only so many days he could have been missing in the first place. Shikamaru had concluded that Naruto had been travelling for two and a half days now. He was sure of that.

However, despite their planning and all their best efforts they'd failed and no one was even sure how. This was Naruto after all.

Neji, Sasuke and Hinata had proved useless with their blood limits, surprising the owners more than the rest of the team. Not even Kiba and Akamaru had managed to pick up a scent. Because of this Kiba was adamant that Naruto was either still in the village or he'd simply disappeared in a puff of smoke. Shino was silently agreeing with him because his bugs couldn't find anything either.

"So who wants to tell Tsunade that we've failed?" Kakashi asked.

"I suggest we draw sticks." Neji suggested and no one had anything better to offer.

No one wanted to go home but it had been a whole week now and they'd still found nothing. Not even the ANBU backup had found anything.

Just where had Naruto gone and why could no one find him?

* * *

**Chapter 1 *roughly four years later***

"I can't believe we got another boring mission." Konohamaru pouted.

"Just shut up and be thankful that you have one at all." Ebisu-sensei scolded. It was an age old argument, one that was quickly becoming old. Secretly he had to agree with the teen. Yes these missions were boring and yes he'd have liked something a little higher up in rank but these kinds of missions were all that was left.

_Those_ teams usually scooped up and completed missions before the other Shinobi even got a chance to know about them. There weren't anything higher than D-rank and the boring C-rank left. So Konohamaru should know better than to complain. It wasn't like they could do anything about it in the first place.

"I know! I know! But I still don't see why we have to look for a stupid teapot! That's not a mission. That's an insult to ninja!" Konohamaru yelled, his voice betraying the true extent of his emotions. He was truly upset that the only missions they ever got were akin to being messengers or delivery ninja. He believed that it wasn't a true test of a ninja's skills and he was right. At this rate none of the newer teams would ever progress.

Ebisu was actually contemplating brining the matter up with the Hokage.

"The only cool part about this entire mission is that it's miles and miles and miles away from Konoha. If it hadn't been for this mission I'd think we'd never leave the village. It's a good thing this darn teapot was so far." Moegi muttered.

Ebisu sighed. When Moegi was starting to agree with Konohamaru the situation was getting dire. They had to find that teapot and fast. Ebisu was now decided. He and the Hokage were going to have a heart to heart.

"You know, if my calculations are correct, the next shop should be the one we're looking for. It's the eleventh teashop in the whole city out of thirteen." Udon announced with a sniff that made his teammates cringe.

It better be. This whole hunting for a teapot that likely didn't exist was dead boring. Soon Konohamaru was going to lose his patience and start something and naturally Udon and Moegi would follow, completely ignoring Ebisu. He hated it when that happened because he was always expected to explain to the Hokage why he couldn't control his team. Ebisu couldn't very well tell the Hokage to try teaching the brat Konohamaru herself. He was too proud to do that. Instead he had to endure the brat, who had replaced his usual green blue scarf with something a little more irritating. Bright florescent orange. He'd also gone from being slightly like the now missing Shinobi, to being exactly like the missing Shinobi.

How was one poor sensei supposed to keep up with that?

Walking into the antique teashop the four Shinobi were careful not to bump over any of the displays in the cramped little shop. Once again the three genin waited around while Ebisu spoke to the aging shopkeeper who shook their head and muttered the same thing that they'd heard all week. They'd neither seen nor heard of the teapot that the four Shinobi were hunting for.

"That's it!" Konohamaru exploded as they exited the shop. "I'm thirsty and Ebisu-sensei is buying us drinks." He proclaimed before promptly marching into an establishment across the road before the spluttering sensei could stop him.

"Wait!" Ebisu called hurrying to catch up to his genin team. They ignored him as always and went right on in. Oh no . . .

"Hay, grandpa! I want a soda." Konohamaru demanded loudly when he walked right up to the bar. He either hadn't noticed the room's occupants or he was ignoring them. Udon and Moegi sure had and were currently sticking very close to each other as they followed Konohamaru. All the people in the little restaurant of sorts looked like they'd be more than happy to kill the genin just to hear them scream and they looked like they could, no matter that they were ninja. Something about them said that they could either way. Almost all of them had some sort of weapon.

"You know kid, you're awfully small to be making such loud mouth demands." The old man behind the counter commented, looking at Konohamaru through one squinted eye. His other eye appeared to be missing, leaving nothing more than an empty socket covered by an eyelid.

"I'm not a kid! I'm a ninja, believe it!" Konohamaru replied hotly. The thirteen year old did not take well to being called young, even though he really was.

"A ninja are you? Heh, how honoured I feel. What brings you three to my humble little restaurant?"

"Nothing. They were just leaving." Ebisu stated forcefully, grabbing Konohamaru's scarf and dragging the spluttering boy back towards the door only to find it blocked by a panting human mountain.

Ebisu looked the guy up and down, his glasses sliding off his nose to show eyes so wide you could see the whites all round.

"Wow, his mom sure made him eat all his vegetables." Moegi muttered much to Udon's agreement.

The statement caused the human behemoth to look at them, his face turning to a scowl. "So there's more of you Leave shits in here eh? I thought I lost you. No matter, there's nowhere for you to run in here." He growled with a sadistic gleam in his feral eyes.

"No see here sir, you've got this all wrong–" Ebisu's little speech never got finished, a large meaty fist seemed to dislike his lectures as much as his genin did since it soundly clocked him one, sending him straight into the wall with a loud crack.

"Sensei!" Udon and Moegi yelled together.

"Oh man how embarrassing." Konohamaru whined, "_That's_ supposed to be out sensei?"

"So who's next? I think the loud mouth punk perhaps." The giant focused his gaze on the stunned Konohamaru. As loud as he was, he wasn't stupid. He knew when he'd met his match and while he didn't respect his sensei, he did respect the man's rank. He was a Special Jonin and if one punch was enough to knock him out then what chance did he, a lowly genin with no true experience, have against this guy?

A large hand grabbed his bright orange scarf and lifted him from the floor, bringing Konohamaru up to eye level. A sense of déjà vu swept over Konohamaru as a similar situation flashed through his mind, on that featured a painted face and a scary red head. Only in that situation a certain loud mouthed blonde had been there to help. He didn't have that same luxury this time.

"Konohamaru!" Moegi gasped in fear and concern, "Let him go!" but she was too scared to actually move.

"Put me down ugly! I'm not a toy." Konohamaru yelled with more bravado than what he was feeling.

He couldn't yell his outrage again as a large hand smacked him across the face. His vision swam as that one casual slap to his face very nearly was enough to make him pass out.

"What was that brat? I'm afraid I can't hear you?" The behemoth mocked shaking the dazed boy like a doll.

"Udon! Do something!" Moegi squeaked, hands close to her mouth as she watched in horror.

"M-me? What do you want me to do?" Udon stuttered and he was right. They didn't actually know any jutsus other than the Sexy Jutsu and the Academy standard jutsus.

Their brief and hardly private exchange was met with rowdy laughter from the other people in the little bar. Ebisu groaned some but otherwise he was still out for the count. Ironically the ridiculous sensei was their only hope and here he was sleeping on the job.

"You know, I'm not really opposed to killing a kid or two . . . but I do dislike torturing them." A quiet voice stated from the shadows but the other people stopped laughing immediately. Apparently this person garnered some sort of respect in this place. Moegi and Udon turned their gazes to his shadowy corner with a slight sense of hope. Perhaps this stranger would be their saviour.

"I'm not going down without a fight." Konohamaru chose that moment to recollect his bearings. His small hands come together in a seal that the two genin recognised and paled.

"Sexy no jutsu!" Konohamaru yelled.

A large puff of smoke obscured their view for a moment, hardly dispersing, only moving out the way to reveal the curvy brunet that was Konohamaru's version of the perfect woman. She blew a kiss at the stunned giant man and giggled before puffing back into the form of Konohamaru and yelling. "RUN. Tactical retreat! Tactical retreat!"

He was making a mad dash to the door when he was jerked to a halt as someone grabbed a hold of his longer than average scarf. Konohamaru knew he had to either ditch the scarf or lose his chance at escape but he just couldn't bring himself to ditch the bright orange reminder.

"Now where you going in such a hurry. That was quite the show you put on there kid." A voice leered at him.

"Lemme go you pervert!"

The door banged open and the bartender decided that too much was happening way to fast. How was a one-eyed old man supposed to keep up?

"There you are! Did you think you could get away from me?" A one arrogant Sasuke Uchiha yelled pointing a finger at the large growling man from earlier.

Everyone in the room froze, except for Konohamaru who was kicking a struggling with all his might. Sasuke's distraction was all he needed to break free. Instead of running for the door he ran to Ebisu shaking the older Shinobi. "Come on you closet pervert. You gotta wake up and get me outta here! I'm too young to die! I still need to become Hokage." Ebisu just groaned but didn't wake up.

Turning back to see what was happening Konohamaru took note that Udon and Moegi had very discreetly shuffled their way to an out of the way place in the shadows. Sasuke had now been joined by his other teammates, Kakashi Hatake and Sakura Haruno completing the highly reputed and feared but incomplete Team 7.

Instead of cowering in fear the large man began to laugh. Wiping tears from his eyes he looked at the determined Leaf ninja before stating "You lose. This is a trap."

With those words the doors slammed shut and a seal glowed into activation. The entire building was enclosed in a barrier. There was no escaping it till the barrier was broken and with the crowded occupants all having similar looks of glee on their faces there wasn't going to be time to dismantle the barrier for a while yet.

"Sakura, stay out of the way and protect Ebisu and his team." Kakashi stated in a low cautious voice.

"Nah. You stick with your team. I got the brats." A cheerful voice said from the back. It was the same voice that had interrupted earlier. Only this time he moved out of the shadows and into view.

"I'm not part of this little set up. The phrase, wrong place in the wrong time comes to mind." He continued placing a hand on Moegi and Udon's shoulder so that he could steer them towards Konohamaru.

Nothing of his face could be seen since he wore a mask, just like Kakashi's and a pair of shades covered his eyes reminding them of an Aburame. A large, deep hood covered his head, casting his features into shadows, only further adding to the difficulty of seeing his features. That hoodie was a royal blue in colour while his pants were the standard baggy Shinobi kind, blacker than a shadow and also slightly thicker in material. Perhaps denim which was a really expensive material. His shoes were like Shinobi sandals only they were a deep brown and completely closed with neither openings by the toes or the heels.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Sasuke demanded.

"If I wanted to kill them, they'd be dead already. While this is hardly insurance, it's also a fact. Besides it's a waste of energy." The mysterious person answered. So far they couldn't even tell if he was a Shinobi. He did have a tanto and weapons pouches but any civilian could look the part of a Shinobi. The difference was in the chakra and the fighting skills.

The decision was taken out of their hands when Team 7 was suddenly attacked from all sides. All they could do was trust this stranger to do what he said he would and protect the four other Leaf Shinobi who were not supposed to be there.

"Who are you?" Konohamaru asked as the stranger got closer, practically carrying the other two genin out of the fight.

"Nobody. But I do like that jutsu of yours. Creative." The stranger replied in a cheerful tone, ducking a kunai at the same time.

The stranger ignored the sounds of battle around him as he checked on the genin sensei. Ebisu appeared to be completely fine other than a concussion. He was probably going to have a major headache for a while.

For the most part the five of them were ignored as the rest of the room, who turned out to be disguised missing nin and rouge ninja, were focused more on Team 7. "Man, just look at them go." Konohamaru sighed, obvious envy and respect in his tone. And indeed they were impressive. However the enclosed spaces were taking its toll. They couldn't use any jutsu, only taijutsu and close combat with kunai and shuriken.

"Forget about them. Start worrying about yourself." A voice snarled from their right. One of the ninja had taken advantage of Team 7's distraction and chosen to go after the other genin. A Leaf Shinobi was still a Leaf Shinobi. He had no qualms either way. As long as he got to take some of them down then he was happy.

However he was blocked by the stranger that had interfered. No matter. They had all agreed to spare him with nothing more than a few broken bones but now he was as good as one of them and therefore as good as dead.

That plan was cut short prematurely, literally. Blood pooled on the floor as it wept from the ninja's slit throat. Ebisu's genin team gaped in open mouthed shock at the lifeless ninja on the floor and the one standing above him. They hadn't even seen him move! He had to be a ninja but where did his loyalties lie?

"I suggest you lot step it up a pace. At this rate they're going to win." The unknown Shinobi said loudly towards the battling Team 7. He received a snarl from Sasuke in reply. These ninja weren't particularly powerful. They were just plentiful and apparently specialised in short distance, no jutsu combat.

Without realising it Sakura found herself backed into a corner, unable to build up the momentum she needed to get a really good punch in. Her attacks were based on heavy hitting, coming at you straight on. She was the medic. It was her job to dodge as Tsunade had drilled into her. Yet she didn't only know how to fight using that strength, no she knew other methods, she just wasn't skilled in them as much.

Which was why she found that she couldn't stop the three attacks coming straight for her. She could stop one, maybe two but not all three and they were all aimed for lethal points. Both Kakashi and Sasuke were too busy to even find her, much less help her. She was on her own. Thinking quickly Sakura chose the two that were most likely to kill her immediately was went to aim for those first.

. . . but she found that she didn't need to block anything as gloved hands slammed onto the wall on either side of her head, enclosing her, protecting her. Shaded eyes were on her face as that mysterious ninja who'd proclaimed responsibility for Ebisu's team took all three attacks in the back.

"Need to keep up there Hotstuff. You're going to die if you don't step it up a level or two." His tone was clearly amused and those words were all the warning she got before the Shinobi disappeared in a puff of smoke, her three attackers lying on the floor, their own blood quickly pooling around them.

A shadow clone huh. She hadn't seen one of those in years.

Looking across the room she saw that the Shinobi was engaged on the other side, doing as he'd said and protecting the three genin and their unconscious sensei. His speed was unreal! He was literally playing with his opponents. Messing around with them before delivering a swift death via a slit throat.

She didn't have a lot of time to admire the almost assassin like precision of the unknown ninja. More enemies quickly replaced the ones he had killed. Just how many were there? There was no way this place could've held that many ninja in it. They had to end sometime.

"Multi shadow clone jutsu." The yell was enough to make Team 7 freeze. The room was suddenly over run by copies of the mysterious ninja. Soon Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura found themselves staring at the blank eyes of the now dead ninja.

"I got tired of them summoning more of the others into the room." The mysterious nin explained with a shrug, stepping over the bodies so that he could get to the door.

"Who are you?" Sasuke demanded.

"Nobody." Came the immediate and frosty reply. In an instant he'd switched from a happy go lucky, glad to help ninja to an extremely cold and impatient one. They had to be careful.

"Do you serve a village?" Kakashi asked, his tone light but his stance on guard as he watched this unknown ninja study the barrier seal on the door. He already know how to break it but he wanted to see what this one would do.

"No." The tone was just as pleasant as before he was asked who he was. So that was a non-touchable topic. "I travel around a lot. Gotta say though. It's been a while since I've seen Konoha ninja."

Sakura moved to check on the genin and found that not even a drop of blood had landed on them. Their sensei even had signs of beginner level healing. She glanced at the ninja still studying the door. Was he an amateur medic? Perhaps his travels prevented him from fully devoting himself to the study. She herself knew that it took a hell of a lot of practise.

"Do you have a name?" Sasuke asked, well sneered, "Or do you prefer Nobody?"

His question didn't even get an answer. Instead one chakra coated hand slammed against the centre of the seal causing the barrier to ripple. That wasn't what Kakashi would have done but effective nonetheless. He's simply overloaded the seal with more chakra than what it had been programmed to hold since the person who's placed it there probably didn't have all that much chakra. The barrier disappeared and the mysterious ninja opened the door.

He stopped for a moment to look back at Konohamaru and said "That teapot you're looking for is in the very last store at the end of this city. Don't bother looking in the others. Try not to break it ne, it's the only one in existence." Then he was walking away.

"Well that was odd but I'm not complaining." Sakura sighed brushing her hair away from her face.

"I still want to know who the hell he is." Sasuke growled.

"Either way we should start heading back. Our mission is now complete." Kakashi noted before pulling out a familiar orange book.

* * *

"Sensei, have you seen this?" Udon asked coming over to the table that Ebisu and Moegi were already seated at. They'd rented two rooms for the night since Ebisu still had a headache after Sakura healed his concussion. All three genin had been strangely quiet but Ebisu hadn't thought anything odd by it. After all they'd just witnessed a massacre.

Ebisu himself felt more foolish than he'd ever felt in his entire life. He's been knocked out, leaving his genin completely defenceless in an unknown city with a bunch of questionable individuals who had turned out to be rogue ninja out for Konoha blood. Worse yet, Team 7 had seen it all and had had to bail them out. His only comfort was the fact that Team 7 had been bailed out by a single unknown Shinobi.

Udon was now waving a piece of paper at his sensei, demanding his attention and Ebisu took the offered paper. Scrawled across it rather hastily were the words: _Heading back to Konoha on my own. I need to train more. I'll never catch up to Team 7 looking for a stupid teapot. Konohamaru. P.S. I hope you're feeling better when you read this Ebisu-sensei. Take it easy, you hit your head really hard._

They'd found the teapot exactly where the unknown Shinobi had said it would be and Moegi treated it like it was a diamond. No one complained because if that thing broke there went their whole mission.

"I'm going to kill him." Ebisu growled getting to his feet. "Get your things, we're leaving." He added over his shoulder to the two unsure genin who nodded and raced off to get there things. Ebisu was mentally kicking himself. How hadn't ne noticed the lack of a person in Konohamaru's bed? Oh, right been trying to be nice by sneaking out without waking them. How had Konohamaru snuck past him? His head injury had made him far more tired than usual, that's how.

With a sigh he paid their bill and stood outside waiting for the remainder of his team. The pace back home was going to be hellish so that they could catch the little bastard. It would be good training for Udon and Moegi who really needed to work on their stamina.

The three Shinobi set out immediately, Moegi still careful of the teapot she had designated to carry the way home.

* * *

Sasuke paused on his tree branch, cocking his head to the side. He held up a hand to signal to his teammates to stop which they did so immediately. They each took turns being team leader and this mission was his turn. It had been a long time since Kakashi had been the undisputed leader of Team 7 and he personally didn't mind. Tsunade however, wasn't informed of this little arrangement.

Mission reports were always doctors so that the rolls on the paper were not what the rolls on the mission had been. They actually wrote those reports together, huddled over Kakashi's small table and joking about the way they were writing it all the while being extremely careful. After all they had to be truthful since lying was an offence yet they had to be secretive if they wanted to continue doing missions their way.

If the chunin that checked their reports though it was strange that Kakashi had such varying leadership tactics they never said anything. They probably thought it was normal for the jonin.

Now they were waiting, since Sasuke had clearly sensed something. Kakashi let him have the role of leader, not stepping in even though he'd already sensed the problem himself. He was surprised at Sasuke's reaction time. He was getting quicker and quicker.

A harried looking Ebisu burst through the trees, not at all being cautious about his path. He didn't check for traps or ambushes first and didn't bother to hide his presence very well either. What kind of a Shinobi was he?

"Oh, Team 7. Didn't think we'd catch up to you." Ebisu stated, his tone conveying his bland enthusiasm at seeing Team 7 twice in as many days. They did not get along. In fact there were a select few, a special select few that could stand to be around Team 7 longer than was necessary. They were . . . . . something else.

"We weren't really in a hurry." Sakura replied noticing the two genin struggling to catch up to them, panting heavily. "How are you feeling today? You look a bit . . . dishevelled."

"Lose something?" Sasuke droned, his eyes trained on the two approaching genin.

"Me? Oh I'm perfectly alright, thank-you. It's a certain genin that's not going to be fine as soon as I catch up to him. In fact after I'm done killing him I'll be more than fine, I'll be perfect cause then all my troubles will dissolve into wherever I hide his body." Ebisu's crackle sounded a little on the insane side causing Kakashi to raise an eyebrow. Unfortunately he knew the feeling.

"You haven't by any chance seen Konohamaru, have you?" Udon panted as he landed on a branch. The poor boy looked ready to faint. Konohamaru must have really pissed Ebisu off to make him forget about his students' lack of chakra at their current age. It looked like he'd been pushing them for a while already and hard.

"No. We haven't." Kakashi answered which only seemed to anger Ebisu more.

"When I get a hold of him, he's so dead." Ebisu promised under his breath.

"What did he do?" Sasuke drawled.

In reply Ebisu shoved a piece of paper practically up his nose causing him to glare at the Shinobi. He snatched the paper away from Ebisu if only to get it out of such close proximity to his face. When he read the words however, he frowned.

"That's not right. If what's written on here is true then we should have encountered the genin a while back, unless you guys somehow managed to miss him with your reckless pace." Sasuke commented while doing the mental calculations. "Unless the loser just got lost."

"Knowing Konohamaru he probably did." Moegi muttered.

Kakashi sighed before scratching the side of his head, "Well do you have anything that's his?" he asked to which the genin and their sensei shook their heads. They wouldn't have thought they'd need something of their fellow genin teammate's so that they could track him should he decide to run off.

"Then we have two choices, fan out and look for him which could take forever and is a waste of my time, or we could head back to Konoha and see if he somehow managed to bypass us and get there first." Sasuke concluded, his voice showing his enthusiasm, or lack of when it came to the first option and his doubtfulness of the second option being plausible.

After a brief moment of consideration and discussion it was decided that they'd head back to Konoha since that was apparently where Konohamaru was headed in the first place. Team 7 had raised questions and pointed out scenarios that pointed to a possible kidnapping but Team Ebisu was adamant that Konohamaru left of his own accord.

So with the thought of home in mind the two teams left for Konoha, Team Ebisu at a thankfully slower pace and Team 7 at a faster one.

* * *

Finding the other Shinobi's trail had been easier than he'd thought. He wondered if that was because he wasn't trying to hid it or because he wasn't as skilled as Konohamaru had originally thought? He hoped it was the first otherwise this was a waste of time and he would get into trouble for nothing.

He wasn't stupid, no matter how much he pretended he was. He knew that what he was doing was practically called desertion and he could be labelled a mission nin for it but he also know that they'd incorrectly assume he was stupid, like he wanted them to believe and that he'd gotten lost on the way back.

. . . but right now he had other things in mind. He had a goal and nothing was going to stop him from achieving that goal. If the Hokage would allow him to progress as a Ninja then he'd find someone who would. He'd find a teacher that would help him achieve his goal, not ignore it like Tsunade did. He didn't bother honouring her with a title. She didn't deserve it.

So with these thoughts in mind, he stuck to the trees, following, watching. The ninja from the day before was walking along the road, not at all concerned about attacks or just too deep in thought to look out for any. Konohamaru wondered if he'd be successful in an attack. Probably not and not the best first impression he'd made so he stuck to the branches.

He was so engrossed in his task that he didn't sense the other ninja in the tress till it was too late. Too late as in one of them covered his mouth and dragged him backwards. Just because his mouth was covered didn't mean he was going to go quietly.

Konohamaru kicked and struggled to get out the grasp of the ninja who held him. He wasn't a friend and was most likely going to kill Konohamaru if he didn't so something about it.

Taking an opportunity Konohamaru bit down on the hand over his mouth causing the ninja to let him go and curse. Konohamaru didn't waste time. He made a chakra infused dash towards the last place he'd seen the mysterious Shinobi. He'd protected Konohamaru and his team once, would he do it again?

Breaking through the trees Konohamaru fell to the floor and ungracefully landed on his butt with an oaf. Looking up he saw that the other Shinobi was already engaged in battle, fighting off the ninja with an ease that frustrated the enemy.

A set of arms grabbed Konohamaru from behind and the genin immediately began struggling. "Hay, calm down. It's me." A disgruntled yet familiar voice scolded.

Konohamaru immediately stopped struggling. "You shouldn't be here." The clone of the mysterious Shinobi stated as he took Konohamaru away from the immediate battle.

"I wanted to find you." Konohamaru replied with a pout.

"Great, you found me. Now what?" The clone's voice had a distinctly mocking tone to it.

Konohamaru hesitated before he answered. He wasn't sure how. This had all seems so much easier in his head.

For a brief moment rejection entered his mind but he pushed it away, refusing to even consider it a possibility.

He was saved from immediately answering by the arrival of more enemies. Konohamaru had never been so indirectly attacked before in his life! Yet this was the life of a true ninja, not the baby missions they kept getting.

He wisely stayed out of the way as he watched a _clone_ fight just as well as the original would, even taking hits that would normally dispel a normal Shadow clone. He was fast. So fast sometimes that Konohamaru couldn't even see him move but something had happened so he had to assume that he did. He didn't even use a single jutsu.

Konohamaru knew the battle was over when the original burst into their small clearing and killed the last of the enemy while his clone finished with his opponent before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"So, what do you want?"

"I want you to teach me." Konohamaru stated as bravely as he could. He knew that this ninja didn't have to protect him. He also knew that this ninja could easily demand payment in return for having protected him _twice_. Most ninja didn't go out of their way for nothing.

"No." The answer was immediate, without thought nor consideration.

"Why?" Konohamaru childishly demanded.

"I don't have time to teach pipsqueak wanabe ninja. In case you haven't noticed I'm not exactly the safest person to hang around with. You should just go home kid, while you still have one that wants you."

"Please, I need to get stronger so that I can reach my goal and I can't do that in Konoha." He knew he sounded desperate and childish but he didn't care. He needed this ninja to teach him.

"Heh, I thought Konoha was producing top class ninja at the moment. What makes you any different? I'm sure if you have a little patience then the progress will start to show." The unknown ninja was now waving his hand dismissively, almost turning around so that he could leave.

"It's complicated. Back home, only four teams are acknowledged while the rest of us are ignored. They're called the Rookie 9 and Team Guy. All the training efforts are focused on those four teams. All the missions go to them as well. I've been a genin for nearly two years now and I only know the Academy jutsus and the jutsu I used at the bar yesterday. I've never been on a mission higher than a D-rank. My sensei, Ebisu, he tries but we never get time to do any real training because they keep giving us these lame D-rank missions that take up all our time, like looking for a non-existent teapot." Konohamaru's explained in a rush, his anger at his situation leaking into his voice as he clenched his fists.

"I don't know why but it's like they've forgotten that other teams need to progress too. Without those four teams Konoha will fall. It's weak and lazy and no one seems to notice or care. But I do." Konohamaru's voice changed to depressed, soft.

"You know kid, telling me that is akin to telling me village secrets. I could use the information you just gave me to bring down your entire village."

Konohamaru's head jerked up so quickly his almost damaged something, his expression the very definition of horror. "Don't worry though. I've no interest in Konoha. However if what you say is true then Konoha has changed from the village I knew it to be." The relief at these words were all too visible on the young genin's face.

"It is different. Ever since _he_ disappeared, things have changed. That's why I want you to teach me. If I go back to the village I'll never get strong enough to achieve my goal." Konohamaru murmured sadly. He knew that if his grandfather were still alive he'd weep in despair at the state of his beloved Village. One the outside they were still as powerful as ever, but on the inside they were falling apart and it was only a matter of time before someone else figured it out. Konohamaru had to be strong for that. He had to defend his village.

"Your goals ne? What are your goals, to become the strongest ninja?" There was that mocking tone again. Konohamaru squared his shoulders and looked the unknown ninja straight in the eye, his gaze determined. "To get strong so that I can protect those precious to me so that what happened to my brother never happens to anyone else, and so that I can find my brother."

His statement was met with silent consideration as his words were analysed. Konohamaru almost held his breath as he waited for an answer. "Tell me something kid, what will you do if, when you return to Konoha, they won't accept you back? Right now, you can still redeem yourself, say you got lost and the most you'll get is a slap on the wrist."

"No. I won't give up now. I'm not going back on my word. If they won't let me come back, then I will find my brother first and protect Konoha second, even if they don't know that I am." Konohamaru replied without hesitation. This seemed to be the answer that was desired. A tension that had been building without Konohamaru realising it suddenly lifted.

"When you're not calling me sensei, you can call me Nin. It's short for Ninja. I'm not giving you my real name and I'm not babysitting you forever kid. I'll train you for six months and exactly six months. It's up to you how much you learn in that time. I just hope for your sake that your village doesn't send Hunter Nins to find you because that means they consider you a missing nin."

* * *

They were almost to the village now and they'd seen no sign that Konohamaru had even stopped to camp for the night. He couldn't have gone straight through. It would have been impossible since the city they had gone to was a week's worth of travelling from Konoha. The brat wouldn't have been able to pull it off.

Sasuke frowned when he considered the possibility that they'd misjudged in their decision not to go look for Konohamaru in the city. It was too late now. The trail he'd taken would no longer be traceable. Team 7 didn't voice their opinions out loud since Team Ebisu were happily making plans of what to do when they found the boy and they seemed to be in two minds about it. Those plans ranged from squeezing the life out of him with the power of a relieved hug or to simply squeeze the life out of him with the power of throttling hands.

Sasuke was leaning towards the latter while Sakura was leaning towards the first. The boy's disappearance was troublesome, to say the least. How could one genin get so hopelessly lost? Surely he could ask for directions?

When the gates to the Village came into view Team Ebisu got more vocal while Team 7 grew more sombre. Kakashi dashed ahead, speaking quietly to Kotetsu and Izumo who's happy greeting died only to be resurrected as grim seriousness. Both looked at each other as their eyes glazed over in thoughtfulness. Then both shook their heads.

Team Ebisu and the remainder of Team 7 landed next to Kakashi who sighed and turned to them, "Looks like we're going to go see the Hokage."

Team 7 were ordered to go back to the city and fins Konohamaru. The three inwardly groaned but didn't say a word of protest. The Hokage was far too furious. They did feel sorry for Ebisu. The poor special Jonin got reamed. When he tried to splutter out that he'd been injured the Hokage only threatened him with demotion. Eventually the poor spluttering Shinobi wisely shut up while Tsunade had her way with him.

Needless to say, Team 7 knew that going back to the city would be useless. It had taken a week to get to Konoha and it would take another week maybe half if they really pushed it to reach the city again. By the time they got there, any trail left by the genin would be cold and they'd have to search the hard way.

Now if Konohamaru had done what Kakashi suspected he had, then he knew they'd never find the boy unless he chose to let them find him. But orders were orders. Before they left Kakashi paid a visit to the Torture and Interrogation Head, Ibiki. He wanted to know what the man knew about a certain unknown Shinobi with no loyalties to any village. After visiting Ibiki he deterred to find Jiraiya, who after Naruto's disappearance, remained in Konoha. Between Tsunade and Jiraiya they both made decisions were the village was concerned and basically ran the place together.

Every Shinobi in Konoha knew that an order from Jiraiya was the equivalent to an order from the Hokage and as such anything he wanted he got.

Trusting in the two Shinobi's skills to uncover anything on the lone ninja, Team 7 headed back to the city in what they knew was essentially a wild goose chase. Konohamaru was not going to be found.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews! And a special thank you to Peter Kim. I like the suggestion of Naruto calling himself Menma.**

**I have no idea how often I'll be updating as school is my first priority at the moment. I'll try to keep it reasonable. I hate waiting for updates myself, but I do understand that life is cruel and we all try our best. XD**

**Oh, and something I forgot to add in the last chapter, I do not own Naruto. **

**Chapter 2** ***Six months later***

It was late at night, the moon in the sky hidden behind clouds. The ninja was perched on a branch, ready and waiting for his chance. If one looked where he was they would not see him. His mission was stealth tonight and being caught before he allowed himself to be would be disastrous. He had a mission tonight and he absolutely could not fail it.

"_Sensei? The Hidden Leaf is really weak at the moment right, so how do I make _them_ see that?" _His own question to his sensei flashed through his mind as he took in the lack of guards.

"_Well that's easy. You teach them a lesson in humility by exploiting those very weaknesses."_ Nin had grinned back at him. The other had waited exactly four months before he'd revealed something as small as his eyes to Konohamaru.

They were a light chestnut colour that held a lot more emotion than his voice. It was like he could train his voice to never betray a thing but he couldn't keep his eyes from sparkling with excitement of from squeezing shut as he grinned under his mask. It was the only true way of knowing what was going through the other Shinobi's head, if one knew what to look for.

And tonight, Konohamaru, thirteen year old genin of two and a half years was going to teach the great and mighty Village Hidden in the Leaves a lesson he hoped they never forgot.

Dashing from his hiding place Konohamaru went straight for the Hokage's tower. All the best secrets were kept there but that was not his target, only his distraction. By the time they realised it, it would be far too late.

Dashing from rooftop to rooftop, he didn't even have to pause. The lack of security was almost sickening. He'd slept peacefully in this very village his whole life bar six months and one week (that one week spent looking for a stupid teapot) and he'd believed that he'd been perfectly safe behind those walls.

Now, as a ninja breaking in, he realised how naive he'd been. Sticking close to the shadows all the same, since his sensei had drilled into him that bad habits got ninja killed, he waited before proceeding anywhere near the tower. He frowned when he noticed that the light was still on in the Hokage's office.

Well that certainly saved some time. He originally hadn't known where Tsunade lived. Every Hokage was different since it was a safety procedure. He remembered as a child that visiting his grandfather had always been a tedious thing unless he went to the place the Third Hokage was sure to be, like the mission room or his office.

If that light meant the Hokage was still at the office then he didn't have to waste the chakra needed to create a sufficient diversion. He'd only have to use a single jutsu but that jutsu was a costly one. For one thing, he still had to iron out a few kinks and for another, it was a high level jutsu, probably higher than S-rank which would probably cause it land smack bang in the Forbidden Scrolls. It was a Nin-sensei original and Konohamaru had permission to use it. The honour was almost overwhelming. As the man's student he knew how intensely guarded the man was about his identity and anything that would lead to it.

So that meant anything that was his, was his alone. They both knew that by giving Konohamaru permission to use the jutsu, by teaching it to him at all and should he ever have a need to use it, it was like giving the technique to the Hidden Leaf. Konohamaru hadn't questioned his sensei when he'd been told that he would be learning the technique. He could see the strain in Nin's body as he spoke about it so he'd wisely kept shut and simply learned.

It had taken him precious time to learn not to argue with Nin about something. If Nin said do it, he did it but it hadn't always been that way and thinking back on it now he realised what a huge mistake that had been. After all six months was hardly any time at all. He would've had time to learn so much more if he'd actually stopped being so stubborn in the beginning.

And Nin had known a lot! The ninja was skilled in almost every area imaginable, aside from genjustsu. He said he just didn't have the delicate chakra control needed and as such his medical ninjutsu was just as rudimentary. Nevertheless Nin knew something of _everything_. When Konohamaru had asked him why, Nin had explained that he'd struggled to find things that he was truly good at. He'd wanted to get as strong as he could so that he could achieve his own goals and since he knew his opponent would be just as strong if not stronger he had to find something he truly excelled at, so to find it he'd tried his hand at everything and because he was just such a stubborn thick headed fool sometimes he didn't give up on anything until he'd mastered it to the best of his ability.

It was a rare moment of disclosure and it hadn't lasted long. The second Nin realised that he was actually giving away something about himself, even something as mundane as his favourite techniques he'd clammed up and been short off with Konohamaru for a whole week.

Nin had a surprisingly sunny disposition for such an efficient killer, so a week of being grumpy was a very long time. Konohamaru hadn't been pushed so hard in his life as he had in that week but he'd learned a hell of a lot faster.

Nin also liked stealth and speed, speed more than stealth. His mantra on this matter was simple and rather logical. It didn't matter how strong your opponent was, if they couldn't touch you they couldn't beat you. To Nin speed and stealth went hand in hand. He knew that if you were too slow to get to the next hiding spot you were as good as dead or discovered which in his mind for some reason, was worse.

Konohamaru had been drilled in the ways of speed and due to Nin's own highly private nature, deception. Konohamaru would never, ever, disrespect the usefulness of the henge. Nin had showed him things he'd never even dreamed of using such a simple technique for. Of course, as with all things Nin did, his insane chakra levels allowed him to take everything a step higher. His transformations weren't just illusions, they were real. He could turn into anything as well as choose between really being it or keeping it simple and making it an illusion. Being the real thing always took more chakra but that wasn't a problem for Nin.

All through the six months Nin had also focused on Konohamaru's chakra reserves, fed up with him collapsing from exhaustion before they'd truly started anything strenuous, in his mind. Water walking and tree walking were baby exercises in comparison. Nin whole heartedly told Konohamaru that chakra control exercises were perfect for developing one's chakra network and by extension their reserves and since Konohamaru was still young his networks would be easier to mould and extend.

Konohamaru had muttered rather darkly at the time that he wished Nin would take his exercises and shove them up his royal arse. He had a perfectly good reason for being so snappy at that moment in time. Nin was making him dodge high speed kunai while on a _rushing_ stream that ended in a fatal plummet to the ground below known as a waterfall as well as being forced to keep several hundred leaves plastered to his body with chakra. After he'd mastered that training, he'd become a master at chakra control and dared anyone to find anyone better. He was pretty sure he could out do a Hyuga.

With a disappointed sigh Konohamaru casually walked up the side of the building. It was a warm night and the Hokage had left a window open to allow a breeze to filter into the office.

Yet even with the breeze it was the flickering of the candle that alerted the Hokage to the presence behind her, before the kunai at her throat.

"What do you want?" Tsunade asked in a low and calm voice which was met with a small chuckle.

"Just for you to know how easy it would be for me to kill you. I didn't even meet and single guard. I'd even had a distraction all ready." A clearly disguised voice informed her cheerfully.

"If you don't intend to kill me then would you mind lowering the kunai?" Tsunade countered, still in the low and level tone.

"Oh I don't think I'll do that. This kunai is the only thing keeping you from misbehaving. I want to talk to you and the arrival of ANBU would seriously impede my efforts . . . and not to mention that infamous temper of yours."

"Misbehaving?" The question was snorted as though he'd offended the Hokage. Probably had but he didn't care so much.

"Well would you care for a drink?" Tsunade offered, seeming to come to terms with the pointy and sharp object by her neck.

"No thanks. I'm too young for that just yet." Konohamaru replied automatically, but immediately mentally cursed. He'd already given away something vital.

"Too young? I find that hard to believe. To have the skill to get this far you have to be at least old enough to drink." Tsunade stated her disbelief.

Konohamaru sighed. He may be young but the Third was his grandfather and he hadn't disappointed when it had come to showing his family heritage. Even Nin had been impressed.

"My real age will give you a heart attack if that is what you truly believe and the ridiculously easy task of getting this far is what I wanted to talk to you about. The Village Hidden in the Leaves has fallen very far ever since the Third was murdered by the _snake_." Konohamaru started, his voice hissing out the word snake angrily.

"I see you garner no love for the traitor either. That gives you a few points in my book." Tsunade observed. "However I must disagree with your statement about the village. The village Hidden in the Leaves has never held a stronger position amongst the other villages since its creation."

"That is where you're wrong. Remove Team 7, just Team 7 and how long will the others last?" Konohamaru asked slowly, giving the Fifth Hokage time to think it over.

"I have faith in my Shinobi." Tsunade replied firmly.

"No doubt the remainder of the Rookie 9 and Team Guy will prevail but remove all those four teams, take them out and what do you have left, Lady Hokage?"

At the names the enemy had used Tsunade paled. The names were used only within the village, _known_ only by those in the village. "How did you know to refer to them as that?" she couldn't stop herself from asking even as the implications of his words were starting to become clear. Remove those four teams and what indeed did she have left? She couldn't even name anyone off the top of her head. ANBU for sure but there were only so many of them and they wouldn't be able to carry the weight of the entire village for long if at all. Those four teams were comprised of the best in their fields and without them all that was left was an older generation of Shinobi that would be devastated by the loss of their children that had been a part of the Rookie 9 and Team Guy.

"I'm a lot closer to the village than you realise, Lady Hokage. Close enough to know that without those four teams, your lack of attention on the development of other younger teams will become your downfall. Without those four teams, the Village Hidden in the Leaves will fall. Soon others will figure it out and act on it. You send those four teams on so many high ranking missions that they're hardly ever in the village. The other Shinobi have gotten lazy due to the lack of challenging missions and should an attack come, like me, they couldn't stop it even if they wanted to."

"Who are you?" Tsunade asked, his words were sinking in, the ghastly truth making her heart race and her mind cloud with shame. He was completely right. Where had she gone so wrong? The advantages of being a woman in this case, meant that she was perfectly reasonable when the occasion called for it and a kunai to the throat tended to make one very open-minded. While a male in her position would profusely deny any weakness in the village due to sheer ego, she could recognise and reason that there was indeed a huge weakness and it was all her fault.

"Luckily for you, an ally. I know of the Leaf's predicament because I was the first to see it. It angered me that you could allow it to happen. As a student of the Third I'd never believed you could be so careless. Further proof of my words can be seen in the chunin exams. In the last one, how many Leaf genin made it to the third round _and got promoted_?"

Tsunade was forced to conclude that while the Leaf genin were making it to the third round it was only because of the reputation they had garnered from the Rookie 9 and Team Guy. Ever since their involvement in the chunin exams that had ended in the death of the Third, word had spread about the Leaf's uncanny ability to produce powerful genin. As a result the battles were almost always won before the fight had even started due to fear and as a further result genin were not being promoted to chunin because they weren't being given the opportunity to show the Hokage if they deserved to be promoted or not.

Tsunade had waved away the genin senseis and their concern. They'd stated that while the genin had made it to the third round their skill level wasn't anywhere near the other genin from the other villages and it was only a matter of time before they figured that out. Many had argued that the generation that had bred the Rookie 9 was a fluke, almost a freak occurrence. Ebisu in particular had begged the Hokage to pay more attention to the training of the younger genin but she'd been too assured in their current position of power. They still had it, but if what this enemy, no ally, said was true, and the signs were now glaring at her proving more and more to be in the ally's favour, then they were in deep trouble.

"I figured I should point this out to you before it became irredeemable." The voice was different now, younger. "I also realise that should this incident become public knowledge, I mean the fact that a mere genin was able to get into the Hokage's office and in a position to kill said Hokage, then the Leaf will fall for sure. That is not my goal. My goal is to protect the Village, just as my grandfather did." The kunai was removed from her throat and she turned around to face the boy clad all in black and wearing a mask.

As she watched he removed the mask to reveal the grim face of Konohamaru Sarutobi.

"Yes, Konohamaru, it's best if this was kept secret." Tsunade agreed before she suddenly struck out and grabbed the unsuspecting boy's ear. "Where the hell do you think you've been?" She demanded angry. "Do you have any idea how many resources went into looking for you? It was like Naruto all over again. Asuma won't even talk to me!"

Tsunade had gotten to the emotional stage just as Nin had warned him. Nin had said that at this point he should become completely compliant. So he allowed the near sobbing Hokage to pull him into a bone crushing hug. She was fricken bipolar just like Iruka-sensei.

"Can't breathe." Konohamaru gasped out just as the door banged open and the ANBU guards swarmed in, drawn by the commotion.

"Well it's too late for you lot now." Tsunade snapped at the confused ANBU as she released a gasping Konohamaru from her hug of death. "Since you're here anyway, one of you go fetch Asuma Sarutobi and another one of you useless morons go fetch Ebisu. The rest of you, get out and go patrol the building or something useful."

She turned back to the nervous genin. He'd planned as far as alerting Tsunade to the threat but not much further than that. "You! Sit." Konohamaru sat down immediately, not even worried that he hadn't even sat in a chair but had promptly fallen to the floor.

Tsunade rolled her eyes before pointing at a chair. Once Konohamaru was seated in it she narrowed her eyes "I'm grateful to your actions tonight Konohamaru. Your concern for the village is something that would make your grandfather proud. Well done on seeing something that both Jiraiya and myself, two of the supposed legendary sannin, did not . . . however. You've got some explaining to do." That tone was a dangerous one.

She held up a hand before he could answer and went over to a seal on her wall. She pressed a hand to it and it glowed with chakra. "We'll wait for everyone to arrive before you begin. While I'd like for your actions tonight to remain a secret, some people will have to be privy to that secret."

Very soon pops and puffs of smoke filled the Hokage's office as grumpy and sleepy Shinobi emerged from those clouds of smoke. Konohamaru gulped as he took in the people that were starting to appear. They were important people, very important.

One of them however made him smile.

"Uncle Asuma." Konohamaru rushed to the jonin who looked like he'd just crawled out of bed and probably had. He jumped on top of his startled uncle and hugged the life giving air from his lungs. "I missed you so much. You're not going to believe the time I've had."

Konohamaru was lifted from Asuma's chest and plopped on the floor once again by a grumbling Shikamaru. Something about girls being troublesome. "We just came back from a mission, this had better be worth the sleep I'll be losing over this." Ino threatened in a low deadly tone, narrowing her eyes at the boy she only knew by name and irritation since she'd had to look for him at one point in the previous six months, as had most of the Shinobi in this room.

"Actually Ino, your team and the rest of Rookie 9 as well as Team Guy are going to be on vacation for a while. You can thank Konohamaru. He just earned you more sleeping time." Tsunade interrupted much to the confusion of the Shinobi in the room which included the Rookie 9 and Team Guy, on a rare occasion of all of them being in the village at the same time, as well as the previous generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, three ANBU ninja, one of them clearly the head of the ANBU division entirely and another was Ibiki, Hiashi Hyuga, Tsume Inuzuka, Shizune and Jiraiya.

"Why did you send that ANBU to get Asuma if he's right here?" Konohamaru asked pointing at his uncle as though Tsunade couldn't see the still startled jonin.

"Easy. Get them out of my hair. Now, start talking brat. Where the hell have you been?" Tsunade replied.

At this point Konohamaru's face scrunched up in confusion as he tried to remember something. Under his breath he began muttering, "I was supposed to say something really important when first presented with that question. Oh man what was it but he'd been saying so many things at the time . . . come on Konohamaru think. . . ." Everyone in the room was waiting for the boy to figure out whatever it was that he'd gotten stuck on. To them it was a relatively simple question and it was only a raised hand from the Hokage that prevented anyone from shaking the boy in annoyance.

"Oh right, I think it was, a black cat crossed my path and I had to go the long way around? No, no that wasn't it. The traffic was unbelievable? Nope, not that one either. I got stopped by a cute girl on the way here and she asked me to dance for her and I did? No, that was the third one he said, uhm, was it the one where I was helping the old lady cross the street and carry her groceries home for her? That was definitely one of them . . . . ." As the muttered list grew all eyes in the room turned sharply to Kakashi who was smiling nervously and sweat dropping. Those excuses were starting to sound awfully familiar. Some God up there had it in for him.

"Aha! I got lost of the Road of Life." Konohamaru grinned at them as though he'd just accomplished some unimaginable feat.

"Hatake." Tsunade said slowly, "Why is Konohamaru able to recite almost all of your excuses?"

"Beats me?" Kakashi shrugged, suddenly feeling very nervous, "Ask him."

"Nin said that you of all people would appreciate that one." Konohamaru pouted. "He said that as the Copy Cat Ninja you couldn't even claim copyrights."

"Another question for you, who's Nin?" Tsunade asked before Kakashi could reply and escalate the situation.

"My sensei. He's the one I've been with the past six months and probably the reason why you couldn't find me. He's very good at hiding." Konohamaru replied with a sagely nod.

"How did you find him?" Sasuke sneered.

Konohamaru shrugged, "He was just there. I don't think he was trying to hide just yet. He did tell me once that no matter how hard he tried there were three people that he knew that could always find him."

"Well I'm glad the brat's back and all and it sure would be interesting to hear his story, Lady Hokage, but what are most of us here for? I'm sure that the only one you really need at the moment is Sarutobi." The head of the ANBU asked quietly.

"Fair enough. Konohamaru I'm sure you've noticed, is in my office at an ungodly hour, dressed all in black, and has a mask in his hands. As the ANBU Head what does that mean to you?" Tsunade replied with a smile that Konohamaru knew meant the man was already in trouble no matter what answer he gave.

"He didn't!" Asuma gasped suddenly finding his voice.

"Oh yes I did. Village security sucks. Be glad it was me and not the enemy." Konohamaru responded hotly.

"I don't get it." Ino yawned.

Konohamaru sighed before moving quicker than anyone had thought the young genin capable of. Before Ino could finish her yawn she found herself on her stomach, a knee to her back and a kunai to her throat. "You really shouldn't drop your guard. Even in the Hokage's office which I just broke into."

This time it was Asuma who pulled him off and plopped him in the chair he'd been seated in a few moments ago. To be on the safe side he wrapped chakra wire around his nephew so that he would stay in the chair. "It's really sad Uncle Asuma that you think that'll hold me." The pout was back.

"It used to." Asuma muttered, hands itching for a cigarette but respecting the Hokage enough not to smoke in her office. "Now, Konohamaru, A to B. Focus on the little things alright. You're getting off track here. Let's start with your mission." Asuma was kneeling in front of his nephew, taking charge of the situation since he'd finally wrapped his head around the idea that after six months the kid honestly and truly was standing in this room.

"Well we had to find a teapot. As a genin of two years, that's insulting I tell you. AAAAAND not to mention the fact that I never got any time to train because Lady Hokage sent us on D-rank missions all the time. As a result, when our sensei was knocked unconscious we were left completely exposed. We didn't know any jutsus other than the Academy jutsus and the Sexy no Jutsu. We were completely helpless, forced to rely on the help of a stranger whom had no obligations to us and could essentially turn on us at any moment. It was the most terrifying experience of my life." Konohamaru's voice had turned hard, cold, yet sad.

"You've been a genin for two years already?" Asuma breathed as though this information was a surprise to him.

"Two and a half now. Anyways, I watched as this stranger _toyed_ with opponents that would ultimately kill me with no effort at all. There was no challenge in it for him. And even though they won't admit it, he even had to bail out Team 7. He says that if he hadn't been there then none of us would've made it. He'd heard them planning the ambush and had decided to stay out of curiosity. He did admit that Team 7 had exceeded his expectations, but that Sasuke was lower than what he thought he'd be. It was like he'd heard of you guys a lot." Konohamaru was looking at the members of Team 7 now who'd stiffened at his words, not liking the weakness in them.

"Wait, so he was only in that bar, because he knew that they were going to ambush Team 7. If that's true then you guys owe this guy one." Ibiki whistled before clapping Kakashi on the back, jostling the jonin.

"I wanted to get stronger too but I knew that staying in Konoha wouldn't allow me to. Firstly all I'd get is more lame D-rank missions that wasted my time I'd rather have spent training and secondly, next to the Rookie 9 and Team Guy, all other teams are invisible. I could have demanded something more till I was blue in the face but you'd never have listened. I knew that it was a long shot and that it was more likely that he'd kill me before he accepted me as a student but I had to learn from him. His skill . . ." Konohamaru's eyes were wide and his voice was distant. "It's crazy just how much he knows, just how good he is. On his own, he could take out the entire Village Hidden in the Leaves and he wouldn't meet any one that would be able to challenge him."

"That's absurd! How could no one be able to at least meet him in equal combat? We have two of the sannin." Kurenai stated with a shake of her head.

"One time, he told me to hide but he was really serious about it. I hid but I could still see him. Orochimaru and his assistant, Kabuto, they arrived and tried to talk to Nin. I don't know what was said but I know enough about body language to know that I don't think Orochimaru has ever tried to lick someone's butt as much as he was trying with Nin. I don't even think the other sannin would recognise him if they ever saw him like that. Whatever he wanted though, he didn't get it. Nin refused and got angry when Orochimaru persisted. He took a single step forward and I swear Orochimaru cringed. The killing intent that was rolling off of Nin was . . . I've never felt so . . . it was terrible." Konohamaru shivered unconsciously at the memory.

"You're joking." Tsunade breathed and Konohamaru shook his head.

"So, getting back on track, I asked him to teach me and he agreed but only for six months. He's a busy guy and doesn't have the time to teach really. He's in high demand and he has a lot of enemies. He gets attacked a lot, especially when he's not trying to hide. So we moved around a lot. That's why I can't answer you on where we were. I don't know. We just kept moving." Konohamaru shrugged.

"Ohkay, so you were with this Nin guy the whole time. Who is Nin?" Asuma asked.

"It's not his real name. He never uses his real name, ever. At least not around me? Everyone who ever spoke to him called him Nin, as his request, come to think of it. He said it was short for Ninja." Konohamaru replied.

"You want to tell me that in six months with a guy you were never able to learn anything about him?" Tsunade asked.

"He's extremely private. Worse than Kakashi. In the six months that I was with him I learned only two things for certain, one his eyes are chestnut in colour and really expressive which is probably why he covers then up and two, he knows a little of something of _everything_. If he thought for even a moment that he'd let something about himself slip he was more petulant than a spoilt two year old. It didn't matter that I never realised what he'd let slip on, he'd still get grumpy anyway." Konohamaru explained.

"What about things you learned just from simple observation. Just because things aren't said with words doesn't mean you can't tell anything at all?" Kakashi asked.

Nin had already given him a list of things he could and could not tell the other Leaf ninja. He wasn't allowed to mention any of the techniques he wasn't good at and he wasn't allowed to mention anything about his goals, the ones he'd let slip during that one conversation. There were other things but those were the most likely to be asked directly.

"Sometimes, they'd call him the Kage." Konohamaru had scrunched up his nose in a show of confusion. He knew that this statement would be exactly enough to distract even the most observant Shinobi in the room and as an added bonus it was entirely truthful. He'd even said the statement like it was a question. He knew that no one here actually thought of him as being capable of killing anyone in this room. They were still quite deluded by his previous skill level. He didn't exactly blame them and he did have a long way to go but it was ridiculous how easy they fell for the stupid genin act. Did he not just break into the village?

"The Kage as in the leader of a village, like the Hokage?" Asuma asked.

"No, the Kage, as in the Shadow." Jiraiya interrupted, speaking for the first time.

"You know something about this?" Tsunade asked.

Jiraiya sighed wearily. He looked up at the ceiling as he pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking. "If that ninja he was with for the past six months was the Kage, then we'll need to do a full evaluation of Konohamaru's skills. His memories will have to be documented, fully examined and analysed. Everything he knows about this Nin Shinobi will have to be shared with everyone in this room. I don't trust the boy enough for him to be completely honest with us."

"WHA? I'm not allowing any Yamanaka in my head!" Konohamaru protested with a growl. If he wanted to play it that way then Konohamaru was out of here. Jiraiya being so quick thinking was not something he'd planned on. This could get out of hand very quickly.

"You can't be serious Jiraiya. The damage that could cause to the boy is unthinkable." Inoichi also voiced his protests as he'd be the chosen Yamanaka, and he couldn't exactly say no to the Hokage.

"If you knew what I knew, then you'd feel the same way." Jiraiya growled, "Orochimaru has every right to fear this guy. I still can't believe that a kid managed to stumble upon him and convince him to be a teacher. Private doesn't even begin to describe the guy, am I right Konohamaru?"

Konohamaru nodded slowly, weary of the white haired sannin.

"I had the unfortunate honour of meeting with him once. I wish I hadn't. It was back when he was first making a name for himself, roughly two and a half years ago. He approached me and wanted to know if I'd be willing to teach him. When I refused, he lost it. I don't know why though. It was like he was on the edge, teetering very close to madness. I wonder if he's reined it in. Konohamaru, could you do a henge of Nin so that I know whether or not we're talking about the same guy?" Jiraiya asked turning to the genin. This was a fascinating story, even for him. Nin had effectively created two lives while he'd taught Konohamaru. One life was the Kage and he had kept the genin so far away from it, it was like it didn't exist at all.

Konohamaru nodded before closing his eyes in concentration. He was still bound to the chair but he could still manage an illusion. There wasn't even a puff of smoke as the genin's image wavered and was suddenly covered by another one, one that was familiar to four other people in the room.

Only with this illusion Konohamaru left the sunglasses out so that Nin's eyes were visible.

"I don't think he's all that crazy anymore." Konohamaru commented but his voice was that of Nin's and not his own.

"This henge technique, it's different from what's taught at the Academy." Hiashi stated confidently.

"Yes it is. Nin said it's the origin of henge. What we use today is a watered down cookie cutter version. It takes less chakra and most anyone could use it. The one I'm using takes far more chakra but it's more complete. However this is still an illusion. Nin can make his transformations as real as an actual person." Konohamaru didn't add that with Nin's transformations, not even a Hyuga would see through it. That was on the do not tell list. Konohamaru figured that the best way to dissuade Jiraiya from trying to rummage around in his head was to appear to be as co-operative as possible.

Konohamaru dropped the henge and waited for the next question but when it came, it was thankfully not directed at him.

"What do you know about this Kage guy?" Tsunade pressed, looking from her ANBU to Jiraiya.

In reply Jiraiya looked at the group of Shinobi in the room. "You've all heard some rumours about the guy, what have you heard?" he asked.

At first no one offered anything but then once it started it was like the damn had broken.

"That he's just a rumour. No one's ever seen him." Sasuke scoffed.

"Rumours always start with a grain of truth Sasuke, never forget that." Jiraiya reminded.

"That no one has ever faced him and lived."

"No one has ever been able to touch him because he moves too fast."

"You can't find him, but he'll always know if you want to hire him."

"He has no loyalties and his demands are always strange, not always money and he never does the negotiations himself."

"He's one sick puppy that can't be killed."

"He's as crazy as a nutter."

"He's a demon worthy of the tailed beasts."

"There's a rather large bounty on his head, higher than anyone's has ever been but there's no picture of him, anywhere and no one has even attempted to claim it, not even using an imposture."

"No one had ever seen his face."

"He's an immortal."

"He's not human but a demon that was sent from the very pits of hell."

"He was born of the shadows feeding from men's hatred."

On and on the rumours were recited, growing more and more ridiculous until one very quietly muttered statement made everyone stop talking at once.

". . . He comes from the Village Hidden in the Leaves." This was whispered _very_ quietly by Kakashi. Almost like he didn't want to voice it at all.

"So you heard that one too huh?" Kakashi's statement was met with silence other than Jiraiya's grim reply. "If it's true then how did we manage to let such a powerful Shinobi slip through our fingers? No one even knows how old this guy is."

Kakashi turned to Konohamaru, "Do you perhaps have an idea of how long he's been around?"

Konohamaru shook his head. "For all I know, with all the jutsus he knows he could be using a reverse aging one. Or he could be using a henge like Lady Tsunade's." He was lying of course. He knew for a fact that Nin was young. Impossibly so for his level of skill. Perhaps being a little crazy helped out.

"The brat has a point." The ANBU head replied with a clear frown on his face just by his tone.

"Hay! Why the hell was Konohamaru breaking into the Hokage's office in the first place?" This was from Choji and by the looks of things, he'd just figured that out. Was he really that asleep? But he'd effectively managed to divert the conversation away from Nin and towards a topic closer to home.

"That's actually a very good question." Kakashi mused turned to the Hokage, all talks of the Kage and whether or not he existed forgotten.

"Konohamaru was pointing out the lack of security. Something he's apparently noticed since before he left." This was stated very drily and very pointedly at the ANBU and Jiraiya. "He pointed out a major weakness in the village, one that could potentially bring down the entire village. Anyone care to tell me what it is? Keep in mind a genin saw it already." Tsunade challenged.

"Too much focus is placed on the Rookie 9 and Team Guy."

Konohamaru froze at that voice but he was still bound to the chair so he couldn't exactly cower. A path was made for a suddenly very angry Special Jonin that looked like he'd just been kicked out of bed. Since he'd been summoned by an ANBU he probably had.

"Ko-no-ha-ma-ru." Each and every part of his name was said slowly and through clenched teeth prompting the genin to think that perhaps his sensei was only behaving by sheer force of will.

"Hi Ebisu sensei! I sure hope you're feeling better after that nasty bump you got on our last mission together. I did put that in my note didn't I?"

Ebisu slammed his hands down on the armrests and leaned in real close to the genin's face who was sweat dropping by now. "Do. You. Have. Any. Idea. How. Much. Humiliation. I've. Gone. Through. In. The. Last. Six. Months." Somehow this was said even more slowly and dangerously than how the fellow Shinobi had said his name causing Konohamaru to chuckle nervously. "Does apologising help?"

"Apologising? Do you really think, really, really think that apologising is going to make up for six months of taunting, mockery and utter isolation all because I couldn't keep track of a single genin while nursing a concussion! No one seemed to remember that the genin in question just happened to be a one Konohamaru Sarutobi and no one seemed to remember that he takes an awful lot after a certain other genin that went missing . . ." Ebisu was on a roll now and the more he spoke the worse Konohamaru and quite frankly the others in the room felt.

A flash of a kunai was all it took for the chakra wire effectively keeping Konohamaru safe to be slashed away and for Ebisu to have lifted the genin from the chair and was currently shaking the life out of him like a rag doll.

". . . . . and the worst part about it all . . . I don't know whether to kill you or to hug you!"

"I'll make you a deal. You can hug me and kill a couple shadow clones of me." Konohamaru murmured in a voice the meant he was likely to throw up at any moment. As it was his eyes were spinning and for him, so was the room. He chuckled suddenly, "Yeah I missed you too closet perv." He added with a fond smile.

Apparently that was all it took for the wayward Sensei to make up his mind because Konohamaru once again found himself in a bone crushing hug. "Don't you ever do that ever, ever again. From now on I'm chaining you to me during missions. You're on a short leash Sarutobi and as the future Hokage you should know better . . ." and there he went again.

The Hokage coughed to get their attention and Ebisu shut up immediately, while Konohamaru gasped for precious air once again. "Ebisu Sensei why don't you head on home and take Konohamaru as well. I'm sure his mother will be delighted to see him." Ebisu nodded curtly, his composure back in place and he clamped a hand onto Konohamaru's shoulder, just in case.

"Before you go however, you and your team, all of them, will be reporting to Training Ground 7 tomorrow. You'll be receiving new training regimens in preparation for the next chunin exams in one month's time."

"You mean later today." Konohamaru corrected glancing outside, noting the rising sun making everyone in the room inwardly groan and add a certain genin onto their shit list. (As if it wasn't already there)

"Get going already." Tsunade barked not at all pleased with the smart remark.

Ebisu hurried the genin out the door with a final bow to the Hokage.

"Now, all of you, we have a lot of discussions to make. Starting with the Kage and then moving on to village security and finally ending with the training of new teams. I hope you're all awake because this is going to take a while. We also have limited time. The Rookie 9 and Team Guy will be assigned to the training of Team Ebisu. You only have one month to get those brats up to speed and ready for the chunin exams. Anko, Jiraiya and Genma will be joining you . . ."

Yes, Konohamaru was now number one on their shit list.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for all the reviews! **

**Yes I know that using the Rookie 9, Team Guy, Anko, Genma and Jiraiya to train one team is excessive but THERE IS A METHOD TO MY MADNESS! I Swear, there is. Well, in my crazy mind there is. Hopefully I'll explain it adequately in this chapter. **

**Chapter 3**

Konohamaru knew that he was getting looks from the other Shinobi, and he knew that he was being talked about but everyone that knew about his return, or the circumstances of his return were all still stuck in a meeting with the Hokage which only further confused the Shinobi population.

The Shinobi of Konoha were terrible gossips and not many of them had missed the fact that all the important players were missing which meant they were all in a meeting with the Hokage. That coupled with the sudden return of Konohamaru Sarutobi and one was left with a lot of room to get creative.

However, nothing in the Village Hidden in the Leave could keep one very eager genin away from his current destination, Ichiraku Ramen. As soon as he entered he noted another person already seated at the small booth. He nodded in silent greeting to his fellow ramen lover before ordering his own bowl.

He happily slurped down the contents of two bowls before he even reacted to the person seated next to him. He liked the ramen booth for the strange privacy it afforded from outside eyes. He had no doubt that he'd be watched for the first few weeks of his return to ascertain that he was indeed still loyal to the village. "Everything went exactly as planned." Konohamaru muttered under his breath knowing that he'd be heard.

The man seated next to him nodded enthusiastically. "You're quite right, this is without argument the best ramen around."

"Are you sure about what you want me to do?" Konohamaru asked with some difficulty. He'd wanted to frown but he had to keep a bright smile on his face.

"Positive. Now I should really get going. Lots to buy today!" With a cheerful wave and an even more cheerful tinkle as he placed his money on the counter, Nin-sensei left the ramen booth in complete disguise. Konohamaru noted that the man had knocked back six bowls. He smirked. Jip, everyone loved Ichiraku Ramen and he was no exception.

Konohamaru sighed before paying his own bill with a bright smile and heading for training ground 7. He'd managed to convince Ebisu-sensei not to let him go home since at this early hour his mother would never let him leave again in time to make their appointment. His reunion with his mother would have to wait, no matter how much he actually wanted to see her.

Konohamaru took a slight detour. Training ground 7 was right by the memorial stone. He would pay a visit to his grandfather first. He owed the old man that much.

"Hay Old man, I'm back. Sorry I've been gone so long, but I went to go train. I learned a lot of things but I also wasted a lot of time. Hahaha. You should see my sensei. I think you'd like him. He's moody yet cheerful and extremely private but he's alright. I think something happened to him, you know like Kakashi. It's too bad he doesn't come from Konoha . . . . ." Konohamaru was quite content to chat away, not really caring whether the old man could hear him or not. He sure did miss the old man.

Sensing that others were starting to arrive in training ground 7, Konohamaru said his good-byes and headed over to the clearing just across the trees. He didn't sense his own team and wondered if they would be late or if the others were just early. Thinking more about it, Tsunade hadn't actually given a time.

As he approached he was careful to make enough noise so that he wouldn't startle the occupants of the training ground, but not to make so much noise as to be obvious. He didn't actually want the others to know the extent of his training. He knew that six months was not enough time to make the improvements that he had and he didn't want to explain that he had no idea how he'd managed to learn as much as he had. Nin had mused that it might be a Sarutobi thing since his grandfather had been known for the sheer number of jutsus he'd mastered. Neither of them had dwelled on it, concentrating instead on how much he could learn in their limited time.

"Glad you could make it, Konohamaru." Asuma stated sarcastically.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Konohamaru asked with a childish pout.

"Oh we just weren't sure if you would actually show up or just run off again." Anko sneered with a sadistic grin.

"No." Asuma disagreed with a frown and elbowing the other jonin, "I just wasn't sure if your mother would've let you leave."

"Ha! I got smart. I never went home. If I had she'd have chained me down and never let me see the light of another sunny day again. Give me some credit Uncle Asuma." Konohamaru replied with a grin.

"Well you all should've known that from the beginning. He's still wearing the same clothes." Kiba interrupted and the statement was punctuated with a bark from Akamaru.

Konohamaru looked down at himself and noted that he was indeed still dressed all in black. That simply wouldn't do. With a wide grin he looked back up at Kiba and dropped the henge, revealing his previous outfit.

"Respect the henge!" The younger genin announced seriously while Kiba grew uncomfortable, not knowing how to respond to that.

"That was a very good henge, Konohamaru. I didn't even know you were using one." A soft voice said politely. Konohamaru looked at the young Hyuga heiress. She didn't stutter anymore but she wasn't a pushover in a fight either. After Naruto left she became like a ninja possessed. Her Byakugan was on par with Neji's now and he, not wanting to be left behind had trained just as vigorously.

"Nin-sensei is ace at henge. You should see his Sexy no jutsu. I think it even beats–" but Konohamaru didn't finish that sentence. He just couldn't. Saying Naruto's name hurt too damn much. It was just a name but it still reminded him of how the genin had simply vanished seemingly of his own free will. If that was true, if he hadn't been forced from the village than Konohamaru didn't think he'd ever forgive the boy he saw as his brother. He'd left right when Konohamaru had needed him most, not even saying a word.

Sure he honoured his missing brother by using his jutsu, wearing his colours, eating his favourite food, and acting just as annoying as he did but that didn't mean a part of him wasn't still wishing he could find Naruto just so that he could punch him into the next year.

"Anyways, what's the plans for today?" Konohamaru finished brightly, completely ignoring his last topic.

"It's our job to make sure you and your team are ready for the chunin exams. We're going to have to see where you are first. Obviously your teammates will be behind so you'll just have to be patient." Kurenai explained.

"Stop me if I'm wrong here but isn't all of you being assigned to one team a little bit of overkill?" Konohamaru asked with a confused frown.

"It may seem so but the arrangement is only for the month. After the chunin exams you'll go back to being taught by Ebisu-sensei, with a few lessons from the others occasionally or if you ask nicely. Lady Hokage's aim is to make your team like the rest of us. Our training had been specifically geared towards making us very well rounded Shinobi so we were trained in all areas that Konoha had access too. We know a little of everything in the Konoha Shinobi world with each of us specialising in what we're most efficient in." Hinata began.

"Yeah, since your team is probably going to be the only team entered in the chunin exams this time around it's important that you make it through to the finals so you gotta be prepared for anything. It's our job to train you so that you can defend against anything they throw at you and dish out just as much." Kiba continued enthusiastically.

"After the chunin exams it'll be our job to both continue our missions but just not as many and to take on other teams and train them. Why you ask, because the flaw in the village will only grow unless we strengthen the Shinobi we have. Lady Hokage has already re-assigned all the missions that would have been given to our teams this month so that our full attention is on your team as well as the other Shinobi are being forced from their comfortable relaxation." Shino droned.

"We've already discussed how your training will be done for the next month. We don't usually train the sensei but in this case we'll make an exception so Ebisu will be with Anko, Jiraiya and Genma. All of those four will be hopping from one group to the other, helping where needed. Udon will be placed with Team Guy with the tactical side of his training coming from Shikamaru. Moegi will be with Kurenai's team as well as receive training from both Sakura and Ino. You, Konohamaru have the honour of being wherever the hell we put you, with whoever we decide to put you with. For the moment, it'll be Team 7 and myself. Choji opted to sit this one out." Asuma explained while talking around the cigarette in his mouth. Konohamaru had been watching it bob and move with the words, the smoke trail making interesting patterns as it did so.

"These placements are only the focus placements. Obviously teamwork will be worked on and you will be swapping trainers but for now we have to push the other two genin so that they're close to Konohamaru's level. Ibiki and the ANBU Head did an estimate on his current level based on Academy records and his chakra levels at the time of disappearance. It'll be tight but I think we can make it." Jiraiya explained further. Konohamaru wondered what their estimation was. He didn't think it was accurate.

"Nin-sensei says the best way to learn something is if you have a lot of chakra to screw up enough times to get it right. He then said that the best way to get more chakra is to expand and develop the chakra networks which is easier to do when you're younger, and he said the best way to do this–" Konohamaru tried to explain so that everyone's lives would be easier this coming month but Sasuke, who had just arrived, cut him off.

"We don't care what this Nin loser said. We're doing it our way."

His loss. It would've saved so much time. Nin knew an awful lot of shortcuts, which naturally conflicted with Konohamaru's mantra. There were no shortcuts on the path to becoming Hokage. But the other Shinobi had promised profusely that his way wasn't the shortcut, just the fast track. He'd also added that ninja complicated their own lives by doing things the long way. But since Sasuke was being such a sourpuss about it all he'd just have to do it the hard way. He felt for his teammates but he would not finish that sentence till Sasuke himself asked.

It took a little over twenty minutes for everyone to arrive. Ebisu-sensei had probably said something to Udon and Moegi because they didn't attack him the moment they saw him. They weren't glaring either. Instead they looked a little confused as to why they suddenly found themselves training under the revered Rookie 9, Team Guy, Genma (Only because he was a jonin), Anko and the sannin Jiraiya.

It was quickly explained to them that Lady Tsunade was going to enter their team into the upcoming chunin exams. Since their team had never been in the chunin exams before it was quite the shock for Udon and Moegi. Konohamaru thought that by now Ebisu-sensei was in a daze, his actions probably automatic. He wondered when the man was going to snap and boy could he snap.

"B-but, if we're entering the chunin exams, then why are we training with you?" Moegi asked, looking to Kurenai whom she was told was to be her sensei for the time being.

"The genin from other hidden villages are brutal. They've been training hard, taking things to the extremes in the hopes that they can bring honour to their village by taking down someone from the Leaf. When word gets out that our team was trained specifically under them (here a thumb was jerked at the other Shinobi), then we'll become the primary targets, the team to beat. They won't be kind, nor merciful and they'll probably try to kill you every chance they get. You'll need the training Moegi." Konohamaru explained, looking only at his female teammate.

"I'm sure it's not that dire." Kakashi said with that annoying grin of his, looking at both Moegi and Konohamaru to which the latter shook his head.

"While travelling Nin-sensei told me about some of the training the other villages are putting their genin through. Some of it's like the Leaf, based upon sensei-pupil relations and you don't push the pupil further than what they can achieve at that point in time . . . some are nice, inventive but not as effective . . . and others are just plain harsh, leaving behind nothing more than a shell of a person, whose only thought is to take down any enemy that stands before them. I met one of those once." Konohamaru shivered. "Nin-sensei killed him, said it was kinder. I personally didn't agree with him but I wasn't about to argue with him."

"If what you say is true then we're going to have major problems. I'll tell Tsunade to hold off the other teams. You three will just have to be sure to make it to the final round because you're the only team that'll be entering." Jiraiya stated firmly.

After that things got rolling pretty quickly. They all split up into three groups. Genma, Anko and Jiraiya would be going from each of the groups so that they could help out where needed and train Ebisu at the same time. If Konohamaru didn't know any better he'd say his sensei looked a little offended but slightly elated at the same time.

The young genin watched as Udon went with Team Guy, looking at Konohamaru as though the Sarutobi could actually save him from the tortures that were sure to follow, Shikamaru trailing behind them with a yawn. Moegi looked relieved to have Hinata at her side as Team Kurenai quickly left, Ino in tow, leaving Team 7, Asuma and Konohamaru in training ground 7.

Sasuke suddenly attacked and Konohamaru just barely sprang out of the way, only to be charged at from the other side by a kunai wielding Kakashi. Man they were fast! And determined. But what were they so determined about?

Sakura hung back a little as she watched the three males go at it. She hadn't expected Konohamaru to have been able to dodge Kakashi's strike. She didn't know that Nin was a lot faster and a lot more aggressive than what the other two were at the moment. Asuma watched silently as he puffed on his cigarette. It was his job to assess Konohamaru's skills from a spectator's point of view. So far the kid was exceeding their expectations.

Konohamaru grit his teeth as he realised that he was going to have to allow some of those punches and kicks to hit. This was going to hurt but he didn't want them to know everything, not yet.

He saw the opportunity come when Sasuke went for a kick to sweep out his legs but instead of jumping up and over he jumped away and right into Kakashi.

Jip, sliding across the ground hurt, a lot.

Getting to his feet was a slow process. Kakashi blinked at him, seeming surprised to have landed the hit at all. His gaze was questioning and confused. Uh oh, that probably meant he was hardly fooled by Konohamaru's deception.

Sasuke on the other hand was frowning in frustration. He hadn't landed a single hit and that stung his pride. Sasuke grumbled under his breath and glared while he turned his attention away. After the hit had landed Kakashi had given the signal to stop since Sakura had suggested a break.

Kakashi was now sauntering over to Asuma who was taking a long thoughtful drag at his cigarette. Konohamaru concentrated on catching his breath, not that he was all that winded but he wasn't completely unaffected by the match. Asuma and Kakashi were conversing very quietly to themselves and Konohamaru wondered if they were trying to figure out a deception. That would not do well for him.

He was hardly as good as Sasuke or Sakura but he was hardly your average genin either. He was Konohamaru Sarutobi, the grandson of the Third Hokage, brother to Naruto Uzumaki, and he aimed to be the next Hokage, after finding his brother of course. He couldn't afford to be average.

"Konohamaru? Why did you go sideways rather than up?" Asuma asked loudly and rather suddenly, making the genin snap back to attention.  
"Bad decision." Konohamaru supplied with a shrug. "Are we going to get back to it? I'm still good. One punch isn't enough to keep me down!"

"Hold on a minute, we're just checking something ohkay." Asuma replied distantly as he returned his attention to the silver haired Jonin.

Konohamaru shrugged walking over to Sakura who was watching Sasuke in fascination. Apparently him having a slight tantrum was something new. "Hay Sakura, you didn't perhaps catch where the Chunin exams would be held this time around. I don't think I did." He asked shuffling his feet slightly. It wasn't that he was nervous, just that he had a healthy dose of fear for the pink haired Shinobi. She was Tsunade's student after all and she had a temper to match her enormous strength.

"Suna. They drew the short straw this time around." Sakura grinned like this was some private joke and perhaps it was.

Konohamaru smiled anyway, having got all that he'd wanted from the other and turned to walk away. Suna wasn't so bad. Their alliance with the Leaf meant that they adopted a lot of the Leaf's customs, such as teaching methods and chunin exam methods. What would Temari and Shikamaru come up with this time? It sure would be interesting.

Konohamaru knew the Sand Siblings far more personally than that first encounter so many years ago. In fact Nin-sensei was a rather good friend of the Kazekage's. Friend wasn't really the word that Konohamaru would use but it was close enough since they weren't exactly not friends. It was more like Nin-sensei owed Gaara a favour and since he still owed it, he was effectively Gaara's bitch.

. . . but strangely enough Nin-sensei never really seemed to mind all that much. He actually seemed to like spending time in Suna and it was one of the few places he stayed in longer than a week and several times over. It made Konohamaru wonder if perhaps the other Shinobi had originally come from Suna.

However missing-nin hardly spent an awful lot of time in the place they'd run away from, and with the Kage of that place to boot. No, maybe not Suna then.

Konohamaru was still deep in thought when suddenly threw a fire ball at him, erm well spat one. The Uchiha was only further peeved when the obviously distracted genin dodged the fireball by simply tilting to the left slightly, hardly expending a fraction of the energy it had taken to make the fire ball in the first place.

"Are we getting back to fighting then?" Konohamaru asked hopefully, returning to the land of the present.

He got a grumble in reply and a glare from Sasuke. Konohamaru narrowed his eyes in thought before clasping his hands together in his own kind of seal. His hands blurred through the seals, not as fast as Sasuke would perhaps but close enough. He spat a fire ball straight at the grumbling Uchiha who blinked in surprise for a mere second before using a replacement jutsu to get safely out of harm's way.

"Spoil sport." Konohamaru pouted at the stoic Uchiha who didn't bother to retaliate. He simply turned his head away, staring expectantly at Kakashi and Asuma instead. The two older Shinobi seemed to reach some sort of agreement because they broke away from each other and turned back to them.

"Nice fire ball Konohamaru, but could you put some power behind it?" Kakashi commented as well as requested.

"I only wanted to singe his hair, not turn him into a crisp."

"I'm sure he'd have survived either way." Kakashi was doing that creepy one eyed smile thing. Konohamaru slowly turned away from him, turning to face open air so that he could do the Fire Style Fire Ball jutsu technique again. He had noticed that Nin loved fire techniques even though it wasn't his natural affinity. Konohamaru got the idea that Nin was secretly proud of his fire style jutsus because he'd had difficulty learning them. Fire was _not_ his natural affinity.

Performing the hand signs once again allowed Konohamaru to spit out a fire ball smaller than his last one but much faster and with a more intense heat.

Kakashi was forced to use a water jutsu to put it out when it exploded in the trees to stop it from causing further unnecessary damage. "You know, most Shinobi make fire balls bigger to get more power." Kakashi commented as he controlled the small jet of water. "Even Sasuke did at first."

"Is there a question in that statement?" Konohamaru asked not really sure if there was one at all.

"Not really. He's just pointing out that your approach was unusual for a beginner. Did your sensei teach it to you that way?" Asuma answered.

"No. But if you want to hit him, your attacks have to be fast. If not, you're just wasting chakra. Smaller things move faster and can be more concentrated, hence the higher temperature."

"Just how fast is this guy?" Sakura asked, glancing at Sasuke.

"Faster than Naruto when trying to get to a free ramen special at Ichiraku Ramen on a first come first serve basis." Konohamaru was rather proud of his comparison but it made the members of Team 7 stiffen and grow distant while Asuma sighed and looked away.

Konohamaru sagged at the reaction. Yes Naruto wasn't his favourite topic of discussion but that didn't mean he wanted to never speak or hear about the other Shinobi ever again. That was just so cruel. It was like they were ignoring him, even in his absence and Konohamaru, no matter how angry he was at Naruto, just couldn't bring himself to do the very thing that Naruto had despised even if he wasn't around to see it. Team 7 was just going to have to get used to it.

If this was the way this 'training' was going to go then they weren't going to get along very well. Six months ago, he'd have been ecstatic at this chance, training with Team 7 and with the rest of the Shinobi that had received the Hokage's undivided attention.

Now, he was wondering when he could get out of here just so that he could go back to Ichiraku Ramen before going home to face his mother's wrath.

A small voice whispered that he should have patience. It had hardly been a day, in fact it was probably lunch time. There was still a whole month in which he could learn. It was up to him. He couldn't throw away this chance just because of a rocky start. After all he couldn't expect them to welcome him with open arms either. Team 7 was notoriously difficult to work with, some saying that only Kakashi could manage to produce a team of jonin that were exactly like him in every way, stubbornly set on being utterly and annoyingly insufferable.

Sakura wasn't a jonin yet but she was good enough to be one. It wouldn't be long before she was promoted.

Tsunade had tried to fill the gap on Team 7 with other Shinobi but it never worked. No one could stand to work with Sakura's temper and her temper sized punches. They could tolerate Kakashi's Icha Icha, even on missions, but they couldn't tolerate his utter tardiness and laziness. The least tolerated, even by his fangirls, was Sasuke. He was moody and testy to everyone, arrogant to most and completely unsociable to all except Kakashi and Sakura. He, more than the other two was the main reason why no one stayed on Team 7 longer than a mission or two.

Kakashi himself was reflecting on the last time Tsunade had loaded them with another Shinobi. It hadn't gone well. The mission itself had been a success but well the Shinobi that had accompanied them . . .

_Kakashi sighed as he trudged through the forest that was part of their latest mission. Behind him a muffled curse informed him that the whiplash of the tree branch he'd been holding away from himself but had let go when he'd walked clear had hit the annoyance behind him square in the face. A small pleasure but not much. _

_He was nothing more than a temporary replacement. Everyone knew that the last spot on Team 7 was reserved and not replaceable. A certain stubborn Uchiha made that widely known. If not by words but by the number of transfer requests and the record times they'd been asked for in. _

_However, Kakashi had to say he hardly blamed the Uchiha. They seemed to find the most annoying and incompetent ninja in all of Konoha to saddle with Team 7 prompting said Team 7 to think their little group had become some sort of punishment for the rest of the Shinobi. If you misbehaved you were threatened with a shift on Team 7. No one died on the missions that they took, but usually the only people who ended up hurt were those substitutes, unless the substitutes happened to have originated from the Rookie 9 or Team Guy. _

_Another curse came from the idiot and Sasuke suppressed the urge to smack him. He didn't feel like carrying the resulting idiot back to Konoha. They'd already completed the mission so now it was the trip homeward. _

_A part of Kakashi thought that with every loud mouth idiot they got saddled with Tsunade was trying to replace Naruto, which resulting in him becoming increasingly short off with the Hokage. A fact she didn't miss but did not comment on. It was only after the blonde Uzumaki had literally disappeared off the face of the planet, (and by literally they meant no Shinobi was able to track him down, not even Jiraiya could sniff something out) only after things had settled down long enough for them to attempt their usual routine, did they all realise just how much Naruto had meant to them. _

_As a result of Naruto's disappearance a strange grimness had settled over the Rookie 9 and Team Guy, which in turn affected their sensei and in turn affected the rest of the Shinobi. Any mention of Naruto and Uzumaki made every Shinobi in hearing range sink into some sort of depression for unknown periods of time so it was wisely a taboo subject, especially around a certain Uchiha. _

_Another result had been jacked up training ordered by the Hokage. If someone was going to use Naruto as a weapon against the Leaf then they had to be prepared. After all Naruto would never leave willing. Someone just wanted it to look that way. He was far to dedicated to his village to just leave for no reason at all. They all agreed on that. _

_Traditional training methods were abandoned in favour of creating the most well rounded Shinobi seen in years. All rookie genin were henceforth, after the failure of the mission, trained under Jiraiya, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Anko, Guy and even Tsunade herself. Others helped out here and there but only for special lessons that the original sensei did not know much of. For obvious reasons some were trained specially, such as Sakura becoming Tsunade's personal apprentice. As a result Tsunade had created genin that had rivalled Danzo's ROOT operatives, without the stunted emotional growth. _

_Leaf gained a level of power never before seen but that didn't make them arrogant. No they got even more cautious, secretly suspicious of every mission given since many turned out to be nothing more than ambushes but never turning any down. No, Leaf maintained their friendly and peaceful attitude. They weren't looking for more power, just to be prepared. _

_So the next part was no surprise. _

_Every member of the original Team 7 froze. They'd all heard it, expect for the idiot. The sound of a kunai blocking another. It was unmistakable. The three acted as one, leaving the idiot behind and jumping to the trees so that they could investigate. _

It had been another ambush attempt, but strangely that one had gone wrong. Two of the Shinobi involved had begun to fight. After witnessing the ensuing fight, the little idiot genin had decided that Team 7 was not for him and had placed a transfer request the very same hour of their return. If Kakashi remembered correctly he was now one of the better behaved Shinobi, never putting a toe out of line.

It seemed that their latest idiot for punishment just happened to be Asuma's nephew. Did that make a difference to Kakashi? Not by a single silver hair. It actually made him want to treat the kid more harshly than the others, but he wouldn't. Konohmaru was still the grandson of the Third and he respected the old man too much to make a mockery of his legacy.

"Alright, enough self-pitying. We've got work to do." Asuma's gruff voice broke them out of their depressing thoughts, causing Sasuke to send a murderous glare at Konohamaru, the most he'd shown all day.

Konohamaru sighed before being forced to do the next set of exercises, a ninjutsu spar on the lake. Not a very stimulating exercise. In fact it was going to take more concentration to hold back yet display a constant level of skill than what it would be to actually do the task. After all, water on the lake was still. It wouldn't take all that much to remain standing on it.

Yes, this month was going to be more of a test of his patience, unless they could teach him something he didn't know but they believed him to be at a lower skill so he doubted that was going to happen any time soon. Oh well, that was entirely his own fault. Too bad.

At least he was back home, with his team and on his way to achieving his goals. Things were looking up and he couldn't say that he didn't enjoy the direction they were going.

* * *

"Report."

"Everything seems to be congruent with Ibiki's estimation." Kakashi stated. "His skill level is only slightly higher than the estimation but as it was an estimation it's not an immediate cause for worry."

"Is he ready?" Tsunade's gaze was calculating as she watched the two Shinobi in her office.

"For the chunin exams, I'd say more than. Unless the other villages decide to play games. His teammates however, might take some creativity." Asuma replied this time, fingers twitching for a cigarette he wasn't allowed to have just yet.

Tsunade closed her eyes as she processed their words. So Konohamaru, you seem to take after the old man.

"However. We are concerned with his attachment to Nin." Asuma stated hesitantly.

"Elaborate, please."

"Every second sentence is stated about Nin, every order is argued with what Nin would rather have done. Every training exercise is met with frustration. It's like he's only doing this to appease us. His attachment to this other Shinobi is, to say the least, troublesome. It's like he hasn't realised that he's not going back to Nin." Kakashi explained.

"Or he is and we just haven't realised it yet." Tsuande's tone had hardened.

"I don't think he's going to leave again. When he's not talking about Nin he's back to the Hokage speeches." Asuma supplied, hand twitching to the pocket with the cigarettes once more. "The way he speaks, it's like any child speaks of their idol. He used to speak that way about Naruto so I'm not inclined to think much of it. Either way, it's going to hit him hard when he realises that Nin isn't coming here."

"That sounds like an issue we'll have to deal with when it comes." Tsunade sighed, almost shrugging but Asuma would not appreciate the meaning behind a shrug from the Hokage. She honestly didn't have time for little genins' feelings. They had to learn to grow up if they wanted to be Shinobi.

"Alright brats. Get out of here and go get some sleep. You've got more training tomorrow." Tsunade dismissed the two with a wave of her hand, eyes travelling to the stack of paper teetering precariously in front of her. Why hadn't a Kage, in all their brilliance, come up with a jutsu for paperwork? She fully suspected that the Shadow clone jutsu had been a starting experiment that just took far too much chakra for the normal Shinobi to do as many times as needed and they did poof into clouds of quickly becoming non-existent smoke rather easily.

With a sigh and a little help from some stolen sake she got to work.

* * *

"Are you ready for this?" Ebisu-sensei asked, hand pushing up his glasses even as his voice flattened in pitch to show his seriousness.

Moegi, Udon and Konohamaru along with the entire Rookie 9, Team Guy, Jiraiya and the Hokage with a few other Konoha Shinobi were showing face in Suna for the much anticipated chunin exams. Most were only there for the first hour or two and would return to Konoha as soon as the introductions were over and as soon as it was politically polite to leave. Konoha needed to be protected at all times, even in times of the chunin exams, especially the chunin exams. These chunin exams, however were causing quite a stir. The main attraction, a single team from Konoha had been entered, only one and that team had been trained by Konoha's best. A smaller reason, more a rumour than a confirmation, was that one of those genin had trained under the Kage.

"Do you have to ask? Honestly Ebisu-sensei, I was born ready!" Konohamaru proclaimed loudly.

Ebisu sighed before handing them all their papers and pushing them towards the door. "Now remember what we discussed, watch out of ambushes and sabotages. Today you represent Konoha so you better not mess up, Konohamaru. As for myself, I'll be with the others." Ebisu was back to his sensei, no nonsense voice.

They were just about to enter when he spoke two more words very quietly and with some concern but with sincerity all the same. "Good luck."

Konohamaru pushed open the door to the registration room. They'd already registered but this just happened to be the meeting room for the first round as well. Some villages just didn't want to reveal too much of their architecture to the other Shinobi. Understandable really when one thought about what happened in Konoha and Orochimaru.

The room they entered was filled with genin and not a single one of them spoke. Giving a quick glance around the room Konohamaru was surprised to note that he in fact knew some of them. He didn't know them personally of course, but rather through association with Nin. Like there was the Shiin clan Shinobi who played the Ocarnia in his jutsus, named Shi.

Shi actually noticed the curious glance that Konohamaru sent him and smiled politely, also knowing Konohamaru by association. "Hay Konohamaru, guess you made it after all. Nin said to look out for you." He greeted in a friendly tone that earned him some sneers.

His announcement caused those who hadn't noticed that the Konoha team had arrived yet to look towards the door. Konohamaru suppressed a shiver when he noticed the Ryudoin brothers in one corner, their creepy eyes surveying the competition coolly. Together they were quite formidable, but alone, perhaps only Gensho was of worry since he was a taijutsu master. Their specialty however, lay in their wooden puppet manipulation.

Konohamaru nodded tightly to an anal genin from the Village Hidden in the Stars, Sumaru. He was their best genin at the moment and his teammates were staring at him with awe. But as usual his nose was in the air and he was ignoring everyone around him. He did however, nod back at Konohamaru.

He was surprised to see a still bandage clad Isaribi. He didn't know what Village she was representing but he wondered if she would be able to do well in this exam. She was highly water based after all and they were in the middle of the desert.

Konohamaru outright grinned at a smaller than usual boy named Ranmaru. With him with the taller and infinitely less skilled Karshi. Konohamaru hoped that he didn't have to face Ranmaru. His Kekkei Genkai would make things hard.

Sasame glared at him from her spot near the back. So it looked like things were looking up for the Fuma clan. He was still sorry about what Orochimaru did to them and her cousin. Looked like everyone suffered because of that snake. Sasame, a tomboyish looking kunoichi was always an absolute delight to be around, what with her winning personality and her great acting skills. Konohamaru still didn't know whether she'd save him from a sticky situation or happily dangle him off a cliff. He was leaning towards cliff, but Nin saw something in her. He'd have to be careful of her clan's techniques though. They were dangerous if caught in.

"So, these are the dregs that Konoha has managed to send this year. Must be losing their touch if they only managed to send one team." An Iwa nin sneered.

"Coming from a dead last Village like yours. I wouldn't speak if I were you. I'm sure you still remember how our Fourth Hokage kicked your butt!" Konohamaru yelled back while Udon and Moegi tried to hold him back.

He wasn't winning himself any friends but that wasn't his aim. He wanted to appear the loud mouthed fool that was rash, that didn't think things through. If that is what they saw then good. It gave him a mask, so to speak. No one would know what he was truly capable of unless he showed them.

His words made more than the Iwa nin angry and Konohamaru mentally winced. It seemed that Nin-sensei was right. Everyone was truly gunning for Konoha.

"So, which one of you rats was trained by the Kage?" This was asked very quietly by a Kumo genin.

"Who says one of us was?" Moegi asked sticking out her tongue. She was deathly afraid that Konohamaru would say something stupid and stick his foot into it. She wanted to survive these exams thank you very much.

"Urg, it's only a rumour then. Nothing to sweat about. Besides these Konoha twerps don't look like any sort of threat to me. I don't know what my sensei was whimpering about."

"I dare you to say that again!" Konohamaru yelled while Udon kept a desperate hold on his scarf.

"Alright, settle down. I don't have time for idiotic and immature games, especially you Konohamaru." Kankuro announced loudly as he entered the room.

"Awww come on! Why does everyone assume that I'm the trouble maker?" Konohamaru replied in a whiny voice.

"Because you are, now shut up and pay attention." The puppet master snapped, getting everyone's attention. There were other Sand Shinobi in the room but the focus was on Kankuro. He appeared to be the proctor for this exam.

"My name is Kankuro. I am one of Sand's best Shinobi and I'm also one of their least tolerant. I'm not here to wipe your snivelling noses. I'm simply here to inform you of the rules. I don't want to hear any whining or bitching about this exam, purely because I do not care. So don't even bother. If you don't hack it, you don't hack it. Try again next time . . . if you can." Kankuro's tone was brief, his face a scowl daring anyone to contradict him. Konohamaru knew first hand just how impatient Kankuro was with kids so he didn't say a word. "Pay attention, I don't want to have to repeat myself and there are a lot of rules."

"For the first stage of the chunin exams each team will be led into a different room. Once inside that room, it'll be your job to get to the other side where a scroll is situated. How you get across is entirely up to you, however if a teammate is injured you'll be disqualified. If you lie about an injury, you'll die. Simple as that so don't even think about it. If anything inside the room is damaged more than the usual ninja tool against ninja tool wear and tear, you'll lose points for every contraption that you break. You only have ten points to start with. The amount of points you'll lose is dependent on what you break. Each team will gain 5 additional points if they can get to the other side without using chakra. Each team will lose 8 points for every jutsu that they use. For the team that manages to make it through the room without even drawing a weapon, you'll get 15 points. If a team completes the exam in under a minute they'll get 3 extra points. If a team finishes the exam with anything less than 8 points they're disqualified." Kankuro's tone completely devoid of emotion, making it really hard to keep concentrating on him. However, these rules were really important so Konohamaru had no choice.

"You can choose whether all three of you are going into the room, or if only one or two. Keep in mind that once a team enters the room they cannot exit and should you have chosen to leave another teammate behind they cannot enter. You cannot trade places and you cannot assist in any way from the outside. Ignoring any of these conditions will get you disqualified. However, all three of you need to have the scroll." Kankuro sounded like he was finished and everyone in the room sure hoped that he was because they were all having a really hard time keeping up with the current restrictions.

"You'll have ten minutes to discuss your strategy. For now, leave through that door. Oh, and one more thing, you have an hour time limit once you enter the room."

Konohamaru tapped his teammates on the shoulder before dashing to the door before anyone else had even realised what Kankuro had said.

"I'm going in alone." Konohamaru immediately stated when Moegi and Udon caught up. It was hard to get lost after leaving the other room. They'd entered what appeared to be a hallway that seemed to stretch out forever. There were doors along each side, spaced equally apart. Were these the rooms they were to enter?

"Konohamaru, stop at the fiftieth door you pass." Kankuro yelled after them. He'd already counted out about twenty-five.

"That's hardly fair, Konohamaru." Moegi pouted.

"Besides, how are you going to keep up with all the rules and get the scroll?" Udon asked with a sniff.

"We don't know enough about what's in the room for us to risk it." Konohamaru argued back. "If there's only one of us then it'll be easier to get from one end of the room to the other end."

"Hold on Konohamaru. What you're saying is correct but we still need to factor in all the rules." Udon urged.

"We don't have time for that." Konohamaru argued.

"Remember what Jiraiya-sensei said, always have a plan." Moegi stated firmly.

_Bad habits got a ninja killed_. Nin said that all the time, too much sometimes but he had a point. Rushing into this was not going to get them through the challenge. Konohamaru had been keeping track of the doors they had passed and stopped when he reached the fiftieth door, as Kankuro had instructed.

"Alright, which rule was the most important?" Konohamaru asked just before Kankuro announced that their ten minutes started now and if at least one of them had not entered the room then by the time the ten minutes were up they were disqualified.

"Easy, all three of us have to have the scroll." Udon stated confidently.

"But that would completely disregard the previous set of conditions where all three of us don't have to be inside the room." Moegi pointed out.

"So then I'd say it's safe to presume that no matter what, all three of us have to enter that room." Konohamaru had lowered his voice. The doors were not all that far apart and every team had stopped at a door. Fifty doors on each side made it safe to assume that roughly one hundred teams were entered into the chunin exams. Only one of them was from Konoha. They couldn't afford to mess up.

"There wasn't anything mentioned about using chakra before we enter the room." Udon pointed out.

"Do you know any jutsus that will help out here? I'm not exactly a Hyuga." Konohamaru replied, thinking on all the jutsus he himself knew. None that would help came to mind.

Both his teammates shook their head. "Alright then let's discuss the rules that focus on inside the room. Which one would be the most important there? I'd say the chakra one." Konohamaru continued.

"Yes, the point system seems to be ridiculously set against the use of chakra. While ninja tools aren't expressly forbidden, points are awarded if we don't use them at all." Moegi muttered. "So it's like extra credit. You won't lose anything for not doing it but you'll gain everything by doing it. I say we use the ninja tools since we're not losing anything if we do. If we make it through with the ten original points then it'll be fine. We can't miss something that was hardly ours to begin with."

She was referring to the extra points. They were guaranteed ten points right from the start and they needed eight to pass the test. So breaking the rules would be foolish since breaking even one would result in instant disqualification since there was no way to make it back out with eight points again, unless they didn't _draw_ any ninja tools. That meant they couldn't even take any out or else they wouldn't get the extra points.

Aiming to achieve all the bonus points was also foolish, since they'd be more likely to rush into things and make a mistake so those three extra points were out of the question should they finish in under a minute.

"There are no shortcuts on the road to Hokage." Konohamaru muttered. That statement was enough to let the other two know that Konohamaru had completely disregarded all and any ideas that focused on gaining the extra points. So that was 5 points for not using chakra, 15 for not even drawing a weapon and 3 for finishing in under a minute.

"Eight points lost for every jutsu we use. Looks like we're going to get those 5 points whether we try to or not." Udon clarified while the other two nodded.

"No injuries. We get disqualified if even one of us had an injury." Moegi reminded. Disqualified and a loss of points meant the same thing when one thought about it. This test was one twisted one. Udon highly suspected Anko and Shikamaru had had a party on this one.

"So, all of us have to go in that room even if they didn't say that. No one is allowed to get injured. We can't use chakra and we've decided that if we have to we'll use ninja tools. Did I miss anything?" Konohamaru summarised.

"Yes, we're not allowed to break anything." Udon added in a tone that suggested he was honestly sick of the rules. There were just so many, and they were so ridiculous. At this stage all Konohamaru wanted to do was walk in there, grab the scroll and walk out again.

Looking towards the other teams he saw that some were near nervous breakdowns. He smirked. Looked like they were having trouble seeing through all the rules. The biggest factor for Konohamaru and his team now because the complete unknown behind that door.

"You have one minute left." Kankuro's voice boomed.

"I suppose we should enter. He did say that if we were in the room by the time the ten minutes were up then we were disqualified." Moegi suggested.  
The boys nodded while Konohamaru put his hand on door handle. Taking a deep breath he pulled on the handle and pushed it open. He didn't enter immediately but rather exercised caution before entering. He didn't want to get skewered before he even crossed the doorway.

When nothing happened they pressed forwards, all three entered the room. The moment the door closed they were plunged in darkness.

"No one move." Konohamaru said sharply and instantly. Was this a genjutsu? Was breaking out of one considered using one's chakra?

There were several ways to break out of a genjutsu. One, disrupt your own flow of chakra. If that didn't work than two, get someone else to disrupt it for you. Three, pain. Pain meant injury so that was not allowed. Option one and two could be considered using chakra. Kankuro hadn't been very specific about that. In fact was breaking a finger the type of injury that would get them disqualified. He'd been far too vague. Shit!

No one had thought to ask when they had the chance and they couldn't go back out, not now that they had entered the room already. Plus they had only had a minute of their ten minutes of deliberation left. There wouldn't have been time to ask anything anyway.

No way to break the genjutsu meant that it was a trap, meant to confuse. Backtracking his way back to the door, Konohamaru spread his fingers until he found the wall. This was a lot harder without chakra. He was glad he'd decided on the path of a Shinobi rather than a civilian. Fumbling along the wall at around the average height he suspected it to be, Konohamaru flicked a switch as his fingers brushed against it.

The blinding light that ensued was enough to cause all three of them to cover their eyes. Had this been a real battle situation, they'd have been killed instantly. Rather, they'd have been killed the moment they walked through the door.

"Congratulations, Team Ebisu. Konoha will be proud. You passed with all your points as well as all the extra points."

Konohamaru lowered his hand to stare in amazement at the sand Shinobi sitting at a table with a scroll resting in the centre.

"Part of your completion of the test involves me explaining the test to you. Had only one or two of you entered, those members would have been placed under a genjutsu. Had they adhered to the rules they'd have realised that they could not successfully break out of the genjutsu, forcing them to wait for it to wear off, which would only have happened after one hour, disqualifying them in any case. If they had tried to break out of the genjutsu they would've lost more points than they could spare. The rules and restrictions were placed there only to confuse you into a state of inaction or overreaction. The focus of the exam was your teammates. Had any of you allowed only one person to enter the room then that is like sacrificing a fellow Shinobi. Had only two of you entered the room then you'd be leaving a teammate behind. Both of these scenarios are not ideal. Therefore by entering the room as a team, and figuring out that a genjutsu that could not be broken out of was in fact not a genjutsu at all, you pass."

"And let's not forget that it's good training. Sometimes clients have ridiculous requests." Kankuro added, walking into the room. "Sometimes you don't get any information about a mission, only an objective and its location. In case you didn't notice. I never said anything about getting back out of the room. All I said was that you had to get to the scroll."

"I thought you were over-seeing the exam." Udon tilted his head slightly in confusion as he took in the painted face of the Sand Shinobi.

"Please, I was the only one that could remember the exact order those stupid rules had to be given in." Kankuro snorted. He then turned to Konohamaru. "Your sensei wanted me to give you this." He dug around in his uniform before producing a single sky blue feather.

He handed it to Konohamaru as though he thought it would explode. The feather itself had an orange dot on it, giving the whole thing an entirely unreal appearance. Konohamaru took the feather with a smile.

"Would you mind if I asked what it was?" Kankuro asked, his interest poorly disguised.

"It's a reminder. He's telling me that I better not screw up since I'm representing him as well as Konoha. He's also reminding me that it would be foolish to underestimate my opponents. After all," Konohamaru raised the feather and took aim, "Anything can be a weapon." With a flick of his wrist the chakra charged feather flew across the room and imbedded itself into the wood on the desk, just in front of the scroll. "So therefore any opponent could kill me."

**Shi is Menma, the guy who lost his memories and later sacrificed himself to blow up the mine. I just didn't want to name him Menma.**

**The Ryudoin brothers are the three Shinobi who tried to kill Might Guy because the wanted revenge for their father's defeat. **

**Ranmaru and Kakarshi are two characters from the Curry of Life arc. Ranmaru helped Raiga while Karshi is the Curry Shop keeper's son. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the reviews, I never expected to get such a response. XD**

**A lot of people have asked and I'm sure many more are wondering:  
Is this fic going to be about Konohamaru?  
To answer that, I'm going to have to say no. However Konohamaru acts as many things in this fic and one of them is the introducing factor. Nin needs an 'excuse' to return. In fact Konohamaru, while not totally disappearing from the fic, will feature less and less as I focus more and more on Nin whose name will change to Menma when he 'returns' to Konoha. I don't want to completely forget about Konohamaru but after all this fic is not about him.**

**On to a different note, fight scenes are not my specialty so I apologise if it's unsatisfactory. **

**Chapter 4**

Konohamaru was sitting in the large cafeteria, his attention focused on the blue feather in his hands. He was trying to tie it to a piece of leather so that he could hand it around his neck but that was a task his fingers were not nimble enough for.

"Oh give it here." Moegi muttered in irritation.

Only about fifteen of the plus minus one hundred teams had made it past the first round. They were all waiting now, while having breakfast, for the next proctor to tell them about the next part of their exam.

Moegi finished with her self-set task and handed the feather back to Konohamaru. It was a larger than an average feather but it was still quite pretty. He wondered if his sensei had made it himself of if there truly was a bird out there that sported these colours. It wasn't just sky blue, but rather a blue that seemed to shimmer and dance in the light, moving with some sort of energy of its own prompting Konohamaru to think that it was made from pure chakra. He put the necklace on over his head and tucked it under his scarf for good measure.

"I heard you brats made it through with all your points." A loud voice announced, alerting them to the approach of their Hokage. All three genin snapped to attention, using chakra to aid them. They stood in a line at attention, waiting for their Hokage to tell them what she wanted them to know. It was highly irregular for her to be here at all as it was.

"Hai, Lady Hokage." They stated in unison.

"Good. The other sensei and I have decided that if you don't make it to the third round, then you'll be stuck as genin forever. There's a betting pool going on at the moment. Everyone is betting that Konohamaru doesn't make it past the second round and by default neither will you two."

"What!? That's hardly fair. I'm a competent ninja." Konohamaru yelled angrily, breaking formation.

"Well then you'd better try extra hard not to screw up. As for me, I need sake. Do you know where they serve any of that stuff around here? Wait, don't answer that. You're too young for such things so if you knew where it was I'd start to question things I really do not want to know the answers to." The Hokage's voice trailed away as the Hokage herself wandered off in search of the elusive sake. The three genin watched her go with a sense of embarrassment and awe. That was the strongest kunoichi ever and she drank like a fish. One never knew quite what to feel when around her. Overwhelmed was always a given though.

"Be genin forever?" Moegi's tone was horrified.

"Ah who cares? I'll still get to be a Shinobi." Konohamaru pouted.

"Alight listen up!" A new voice boomed through the room. Seemed the second exam was going to start. If Suna was anything like Konoha, and judging by how involved Konoha had been in these chunin exams the chances were high, then the next phase would most likely be a survival exam.

True enough they were told that they had to transverse a dangerous cornered off desert landscape that would ultimately end in the destination for their final exam. The usual, extreme conditions, Shinobi-eating monsters and ridiculous yet reasonable time limit was given. Not much creativity there. At least there wasn't the whole kill the other teams involved part. Konoha usually had that by making them retrieve the half of a whole of some or other object. There _was_ however that subtly implied invitation to take out the competition if you felt like it. Their time limit this time was three days. Goody. Hopefully they could carry that much water. Poor Isaribi.

"Oh and it was requested by the upper level Shinobi and other important people that they be able to see every stage of the chunin exams and not just the last. Therefore, you'll be watched and have been watched since the exam started." The proctor added almost as an afterthought.

Well that was different.

Would it make a difference to Konohamaru? Would he have to hold back now? He doubted he'd need his full potential in the first place. He could transverse across a desert, no problem. It was more the heat and the thirst that concerned him, as well as the drastic temperature changes. Desert nights were not warm.

"Hay guys, I think we should focus on getting through this stage fairly quickly. I don't want to be stuck out there for longer than necessary." Konohamaru frowned.

"I agree. The exposure alone could kill us." Udon nodded.

They were informed that they would be told in which direction they needed to go once they arrived at the cornered off area. That was fine with Konohamaru. This test was going to be a piece of cake. He already had a plan formulating in his mind. If he could get it right then they were going to have a rather easy test.

"Hay, Udon, do you still have that compass?" Moegi asked and Konohamaru grinned. Better and better.

"Jip. Never leave anywhere without it." Udon replied about to rummage around in his pockets as though to produce the compass as proof but seemed to think better of it since he dropped his hand.

Konohamaru took the time to access his competition. He saw Ranmaru and Karashi, Isaribi (Although she looked a little worried herself) Shi, the Ryudoin brothers, Sasame, Sumaru, as well as a few others. He had an advantage with some of them since he knew how they fought but he knew that his luck wasn't the best of things and so he'd probably end up fighting one of the Ninja he knew nothing about other than which village they came from. Would they be difficult to beat?

He guessed he'd have to wait and see.

* * *

"Your target is North West of this spot. You have three days to get there. Your time begins in five minutes. You have those five minutes to work up the nerve to get past the gates." This proctor was even less patient than Kankuro. Amazing.

Konohamaru shook his head before he turned to scan the gathered teams. Some of them went straight through the gates, faces a grim mask daring all those around them to try anything. He spotted the person he wanted to talk to and jogged over to her.

"Hay Isaribi." He began with a grin. She looked up at him, her face carefully blank to hide the strain she was under. She was older than him, by several years but her training had been delayed. This close to her and he could see that she had chosen the Hidden Mist Village.

"What do you want Konohamaru?" She asked carefully.

"Well I was thinking, you could take my water canteen." Konohamaru started turning his body slightly so that he could reach behind him and unclip the canteen just recently filled with water. When he turned back to her, hand extended he saw something like desperate longing and hope flash in her eyes but it was quickly smothered by an icy glare. Her hand struck out, slamming the canteen from his hands and into the sand a meter away.

"I don't want your pity." She snarled at him.

Konohamaru stood still for a mere moment. His face was blank due to shock but then he quickly got over it as anger replaced it, anger and hurt.

"It wasn't pity." He snapped back. "I was just planning on being done with this stage before I even needed it and thought you could make better use of it. Guess I was wrong." He walked over to the fallen canteen and snatched it back.

His team followed silently as he made his way passed the gates, his mood far more malevolent then they had even seen him in. He didn't go very far having been perfectly serious about his plan to be out of here before he even got thirsty. He grumbled under his breath about stubborn kunoichi and how he'd never understand them.

"Alright, I don't know about you two but I plan on sleeping in a bed tonight." Konohamaru exclaimed before placing his hands together in a seal.

* * *

"He's a loud one." The comment was made by one of the Iwa sensei, his eyes mocking the Konoha Shinobi he was staring at.

"Loud, but powerful." Kakashi replied coolly. "I bet he'll make good on that promise."

They were all staring at a large screen. There were fifteen of them, all of them displaying the teams that had made it through to the second round. Despite Kakashi's words, he was worried. They hadn't walked very far into the desert area they were to transverse and Konohamaru was already planning on using a jutsu.

There were the various sensei of the teams in the room as well as other variously important people. Gaara was quite enjoying watching Konohamaru and by default so was Tsunade. It was like Gaara knew something they didn't but no one really knew what was going on in the young Kage's mind. Kakashi watched as the generously proportioned kunoichi snuck sake into her glass instead of the tea everyone else was drinking.

"I for one what to know what he's up to. He's got that look on his face, the one that makes the ANBU nervous." Anko announced gleefully, rubbing her hands together.

"Hay, I think you're right. Personally I can't tell the difference between his 'I'm about to cause shit' face and his 'I need the toilet' face." Tsunade said narrowing her eyes. Kakashi was semi relieved that she wasn't slurring yet. Then again he trusted his Hokage enough to hope that she knew her limits when in foreign territory. This wasn't Konoha and a drunken Hokage was an easily killed Hokage, if someone was dumb enough to get close to her.

"Hay, shhh, he's starting." This was from Gaara and he was surprisingly very childlike when it came to watching things, like the first part of the chunin exams saw him sand coffin-ing several of the sensei since they were too loud for his liking while he was trying to hear what the genin were discussing amongst themselves. He didn't kill any of them, just politely suffocated them till they passed out.

Kakashi watched as Konohamaru began several hand signs, unfamiliar ones. That was a new one. He was at least able to identify a good number of jutsus and use most of them. He rarely came across any that he didn't know.

However as the jutsu came to life he suddenly became very much acquainted with the jutsu, knowing what it was instantly. But knowing what it was didn't help ease the confusion. The Chidori was not performed like that and it certainly wasn't taught to Konohamaru. Only Sasuke knew the Chidori, other than himself.

Yet there was a ball of lightning now crackling merrily in the centre of Konohamaru's palm, the sound of a thousand birds filtering through the speakers.

"Kakashi, I didn't know you'd taught him the Chidori. It looks a little different from how I remember it though." Kurenai commented.

"That's because it's not the true Chidori. I'm not sure if it's an attempt at imitation or if it's something else but it seems to start out as the Chidori. Kakashi, nor I, taught him that jutsu. That can only mean one thing." Sasuke explained, well droned, "That other sensei of his taught him this."

Konohamaru raised a chakra glowing hand and slowly moved it towards the snapping blue electricity in his palm. As they watched he began to turn his wrist, surprisingly moving the lightning chakra as he did so, turning it around and around. Slowly it started to follow the movement of his hand, gaining speed with every rotation.

What had begun as a ball of lightning started to change so that it now resembled a spinning disc of deadly blue. Kakashi was willing to bet that that disc was sharper than any sword would ever be.

"What the hell do you think he's going to do with that?" Kiba demanded.

Not all of the Konoha 11 were here. Most had stayed behind in Konoha to protect it. They couldn't all just leave. That would be far too risky and not to mention stupid. Sasuke, Shikamaru, who was a proctor, Kiba and Hinata had opted to come. Kakashi had been silently hoping that Sakura would come as well but she had stayed behind to run the hospital. Too bad. Out of the sensei, there was Asuma, Anko, himself and Ebisu.

Kiba's question was answered as Konohamaru suddenly threw the spinning disc of lightning towards the ground. His jutsu wasn't finished though as his hands flew through some signs. A burst of blue later and three discs were now rapidly spinning through the air.

"He managed to shadow clone a jutsu!? As far as I knew only tools like kunai and shuriken could do that." One of the other sensei exclaimed. Silently, the Konoha Shinobi were reeling with him. But they weren't stupid enough to say that out loud.

The discs hit the sand with a sharp snapping buzz, the entire screen lighting up in a blinding shower of sparks and flashes. The three genin coughed around the acrid smoke that followed, blinking owlishly as all three had not closed their eyes.

"Konohamaru!" Moegi screeched before promptly slamming a fist on his head.

"OW!"

Kakashi just shook his head. He was sure that it was that way with every team. Even Hinata had one of those days.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Moegi demanded, asking the question they all wanted to know the answer to.

"Easy. We're going to fly." Konohamaru announced proudly, yet still rubbing his head.

"Fly? I do not see how." Udon was intently studying the now smoking patches of sand. He wasn't very close to them as they were still quite hot. "It appears that the sand has hardened."

"Move out the way Udon. I'm not finished yet. Wind style: Wind Gale jutsu." Konohamaru sucked in a large lungful of air before blowing it at a calculated angle. The gale of air was powerful enough to cool the sand as well as blow the excess sand way but not enough to blow the three burnt patches of sand away. Upon inspection they found that the three patches were now hard. Wind style too? That was one of the hardest to master. You either had it or you didn't.

Konohamaru bent down to inspect his work before confidently stepping into the centre of one of the hardened discs of sand. "All aboard the Konohamaru express. Udon, don't forget that compass." The young genin yelled happily. "Oh and use chakra to stick your feet down."

Another wind jutsu later and the three genin, two terrified and one yelling excitedly, were hovering through the air on hardened patches of sand, much like dirty glass in a general North West direction and at a speed that would soon exhaust a normal genin but something told Kakashi that Konohamaru was not a normal genin.

"My sand! My poor poor sand. I call for disqualification. Tsunade! We're going to talk about this. We're going to have a long, long discussion. . ." Gaara, apparently didn't much care for glass. Especially glass made from his sand.

"I think Asuma is going to be pretty mad." Kakashi muttered, turning slightly to see the older Sarutobi furiously chewing the end of his cigarette, muttering something suspiciously like 'I'm going to kill him.' Kakashi sighed. Yes, they had made a gross underestimation of the young Sarutobi's skills and as a result they no longer knew just what he was capable of. Watching him perform those jutsus in such quick succession, with perfect execution, Kakashi was sure that all the training they had done in the past month had been nothing but a laugh for him, nothing but a slight workout. The fact that he'd managed to fool all of them was even more astounding. How had none of them noticed?

How many hours had he spent in the training grounds after everyone else had called it quits just to keep up with his skill level? Just how hard had this Nin Shinobi been pushing him for the small boy to achieve so much in a mere six months? Konohamaru looked healthy enough but that could just be an illusion. What if he'd been pushed too hard and was about to snap? In the middle of the chunin exams that could be disastrous.

With that in mind, 'I'm going to kill him', seemed far too kind.

* * *

Just as Konohamaru had vowed, he'd spotted the destination for the third stage of the chunin exams just three hours into the second stage. "Alright! Take that Isaribi."

"What's the deal with you and that other kunoichi?" Moegi asked. She was sitting on her disc of sand, her feet swinging over the edge as Konohamaru controlled the direction and height. She had noticed the gradual dip in altitude as they'd raced across the blistering sand but she hadn't said anything knowing that the other genin wouldn't listen to her anyway. She was sure he was going to drop from exhaustion the moment they landed.

"Arg, she's just some girl I met while with Nin-sensei. She's mostly water based in her fighting." Konohamaru shrugged. "She's got a mean temper though. Distrustful and guarded about most things. I was surprised to see her here."

They were starting to slow down now, getting closer and closer to the entrance of the partially empty tower of sorts. The only people that were there were the sensei, the Kages and the proctors of the exam. The spectators would most likely be there in three days' time.

Large volumes of sand were moving through an enormous bridge that spanned the landscape. From the angle that they were approaching it was hard to tell which direction and how long the bridge was.

Konohamaru directed them towards the ground before stumbling off his hardened disc of sand. "I'm so stiff! Standing in one spot for three hours is not fun." The genin complained, stretching out his cramped legs. Mogi rolled her eyes while Udon silently agreed with her. Konohamaru, no matter how much stronger he was, was still an idiot.

"Congratulations, you three. You pass the second test."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Konohamaru squeaked. "What are you doing here? We haven't even made it through the doors yet."

"Well you made it this far, I think it's safe to assume you'll make it a little further." Kakashi gave that creepy one eyed smile thing, his Icha Icha book only slightly lowered from in front of his face. "I think you and I need to have a little talk, ne Konohamaru."

"Hehehe, about what?" Konohamaru asked nervously, hand sneaking up to the back of his head as he grinned in a way that was just too damn familiar for all the wrong reasons.

"Oh I think you know what." Kakashi's tone was one that meant he was in a lot of trouble. It was that friendly one yet it still made your body turn cold and your thoughts freeze. "Nice lightning jutsu. A bit too long to create to use in heavy combat though." Kakashi added in a different yet still friendly tone.

The three genin were escorted by Kakashi into the building that was to serve as their home for the next three days. Konohamaru was willing to bet the stadium was across the bridge. This should get exciting. If they could watch the other teams then he could gain an advantage. Was it against the rules though?

"Moegi, Udon, why don't you two go freshen up. There are a few rooms set aside that way." Kakashi suggested to the two other genin, only his tone, while friendly, really meant that they had no choice. They nodded before turning down the corridor he had suggested. Konohamaru watched them go, growing more cautious by the second.

He had to be careful.

Kakashi pushed open a door and entered, standing aside so that Konohamaru could do the same.

"I've brought Konohamaru Sarutobi, as you requested, Lady Hokage." Kakashi stated unnecessarily as he slouched to one side, one hand instantly moving to a pocket.

"Congratulations Konohamaru. It seems I must apologise. You are indeed an adequate ninja." Tsunade began but her words were fluctuating in pitch for the young genin. His earlier actions were starting to catch up with him.

"However, it seems you have some explaining to do." Tsunade turned away from the window she had been staring out of to face Konohamaru. All the Konoha Shinobi were in this room as well as Gaara, Temari and Kankuro. Konohamaru didn't know why the sand siblings were involved but he honestly didn't care at that moment. All he wanted was some sleep.

"So what. I used a lightning jutsu. No biggy." Konohamaru shrugged.

"That's not the point and you know it." Asuma suddenly interrupted. "How do we know that you're rested enough to continue with the exams. We have no idea what kind of condition your chakra pathways are in nor your mental and emotional states. We don't want you to get hurt Konohamaru."

"I'm fine." Konohamaru insisted.

"Be that as it may for you, Sarutobi, when we get back you'll undergo a full examination of your skills and health and don't think you can weasel your way out of this one. The last time we were working with assumptions, a mistake to be sure, but a reasonable one." Tsunade snapped.

"We never thought that Nin was crazy enough to push you as far as he clearly did. Teaching elemental jutsu to a child your age is crazy." Jiraiya added with a disapproving shake of his head.

Konohamaru blinked at the white haired sannin. His vision blurred slightly but he ignored it, pushing past the exhaustion as his anger rose. He hadn't realised he was swaying until Hinata reached out to steady him.

He yanked his arm away as he glared at Jiraiya, "Don't presume to know anything about my sensei. And while you're at it, don't presume to know anything about me! You didn't care seven months ago so why should now be any different?! I'm not a child! I'm a Shinobi and what I decide to learn is my business." he snarled angrily.

"Konohamaru that's not what I meant." Jiraiya tried to explain.

Konohamaru didn't get to hear a word of it as he swayed once more, his ears starting to ring and his vision pulsating in time to the beat of his heart. He blinked to try and steady his vision but it didn't appear to be working.

"Look, so I didn't tell you that I knew a few jutsus. You never asked. You just assumed so don't blame me." Konohamaru managed to say with a conviction that he was sure he'd feel a lot more strongly if he wasn't so darn tired. He'd really overdone it with that wind jutsu.

"The way I see it kid, is that you're untrustworthy. I don't know what your intentions are. I don't even know if I should allow you to continue being a Shinobi of the Leaf. The only reason why I haven't suspended you is because I know that doing so will only cause you to leave, creating the possibility of you joining another village." Tsunade snapped back holding up a hand warningly when Asuma tried to protest.

"I don't care what _you_ do. I hate you! It's all your fault that he left!" Konohamaru was starting to get careless in his exhaustion, saying things he'd been feeling in the deepest corners of his heart. He might not fully believe the words he was shouting but they had at some stage crossed his mind.

Tsunade recoiled as though she'd been slapped.

"Ever since you came he left. It has to be your fault because he was fine before then. He took everything that was thrown at him and he pushed on. He wanted to be Hokage, to protect everyone. So why did he leave when you came?" Konohamaru pressed on, his addled thoughts not processing anything very well at the moment.

"So yeah, you can try and stop me. You can try and tell me not to do it but I won't stop. Not ever. I will find him, no matter if you help me or if you get in my way. You let him leave and you're not trying to find him. But I will. I'll bring him back. But to do that I need to be strong. Stronger than anyone else. Right now, you're only getting in my way and you have been since the day you got here." The world tilted as Konohamaru swayed dangerously. He caught himself on his hands as he fell to the floor.

Asuma tried to help him up, steady him but Konohamaru slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me. You have no idea what I've been through. This, this is nothing so stop giving me that look. None of you have any right to judge me. You don't know what I've been through, what I've had to do in order to reach my goals, goals that you gave up on. So you don't get a say in what I do." He was whispering now, staring at his hands as he pushed himself to his feet.

He tried to make his way to the door but he never did. His world faded into blackness before his head even hit the floor.

* * *

Asuma sighed as he hoisted the now unconscious child into his arms. He hated having to knock the boy out but it was for his own good. He was practically dead on his feet and he didn't even recognize it. Just how used to being exhausted was he?

"I never realised. I'm so sorry Asuma." Tsunade breathed, her eyes still wide in her shock.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I'm sure he doesn't really blame you. He's exhausted and you, better than anyone, know what chakra exhausted Shinobi are like. We shouldn't have tried to question him so soon after his arrival. That was a mistake." Asuma replied looking down at his nephew.

"What kind of training did he go through in order to learn elemental ninjutsu in just six months and more than one?" Jiraiya asked in a horrified tone.

"Honestly, I really don't want to think about it." Asuma shook his head as thoughts entered his mind anyway.

"What do we do with him now?" Kakashi asked staring at the boy Asuma cradled so gently, like he blamed himself for the boy's condition. Just what kind of a condition had six months of hellish training and roughly four years of neglect done to the boy? Pushing up his head band Kakashi focused his Sharingan on Konohamaru. He saw the flare of Hinata's chakra that told him she was doing the same thing with her Byakugan.

"His chakra network is surprisingly developed for one so young." Hinata commented. Kakashi lowered his headband to cover his Sharingan. This wasn't something the Sharingan could adequately assess. The Byakugan was far more suited for that.

"There are a lot of damaged and healed sections. Those healed sections have been done so with great care. A lot of time was taken to make sure no lasting damage remained from whatever caused it in the first place. I almost couldn't tell that they were there. However they're slightly smaller in size in comparison to the rest of his chakra network." Hinata murmured as she focused. "I can tell you that his chakra network is one hundred percent fine. That Nin guy knew what he was doing, whatever it was. There's no unnecessary strain, no actual damage that hasn't been healed meticulously. As far as I can tell the only thing that is of concern is the accelerated pace that it has grown but that doesn't seem to be hindering him at all."

"Alright. For now we'll let him continue in to the chunin exams but Hinata, I want you to keep a close watch on him. His exhaustion could be creating a false sense of reality for the Byakugan. The moment we need to, we'll pull him out." Tsunade sighed. "For now he should get some rest."

* * *

Konohamaru stirred, muttering something before sighing and falling back into a deeper sleep once again. Asuma had opted to stay with him, protecting him should anyone try to harm him while he was vulnerable. He closed his eyes with a sigh. All the things he'd missed in the past four and a half years.

Konohamaru had every right to be angry with him. Naruto meant everything to him and no one, not a single one of them had looked at him and wondered how this was affecting him. He'd just lost his grandfather only to lose his brother too. It must have devastated him, only to be ignored later on by all those that should have been there for him, helped him.

Asuma felt the shame at his own actions. How could he have forgotten about the boy? No, not forgotten, just not remembered the way he should've been.

Could he fix this? Could he once again connect to his young nephew? He owed his brother and father that much, both of whom had died in the effort to protect the village they both loved dearly.

Konohamaru stirred once again, this time his eyes cracking open.

"You awake this time?" Asuma asked bringing the boy's bleary attention to him.

"Uncle Asuma?" Konohamaru shifted into a seated position, hands moving to rub at his eyes.

"Feeling better?" Asuma asked blowing out a stream of smoke at the same time.

"Yeah, I guess. Look about before, I didn't mean any of that stuff." Konohamaru began, his voice low remorseful. "Maybe, at one point I did feel that way but not anymore."

"Konohamaru, it's not that we've stopped looking for Naruto. It's that we can't find him. No one can. Eventually we had to focus on the village again. We couldn't keep sending teams and teams out to look for a Shinobi who didn't want to be found. No one thought he was capable of that level of stealth." Asuma explained. "We still look for him but just not as actively as we had when he first disappeared. We wish he could do more but ultimately the village comes first. No one has given up on finding him, especially Team 7."

"I see. Well when I get back and I'm a chunin I'm going to join the search parties. I'll find him no matter what. He can't hide forever." Konohamaru exclaimed with a grin.

"That all depends on the Hokage. She'll be the one to tell you what you'll be doing but I'm sure she'll let you go look for him." Asuma chuckled.

"She will. I know she will." Konohamaru replied adamantly. "By the way how long was I out for?"

"Two days, with six attempts on your life. You're quite popular it would seem." Asuma's good mood vanished with those words as his frown deepened.

"I'll be fine Uncle Asuma." Konohamaru reassured quietly.

"You better be. I don't want to be the one to explain to your mother how you died during the chunin exams." Asuma huffed.

"I thought they were supposed to be dangerous?" Konohamaru grinned teasingly at his Uncle who spluttered out hastily, "For you, yes they are. But try to explain to your mother how all the surrounding Jonin couldn't save your ass."

"Good point."

There was a knock at the door and Asuma stood to go and see who it was. Moegi and Udon were standing on the other side, nervously shuffling their feet. "Is he awake?" Moegi asked.

"Yeah, sure. Come on in. I'll leave you guys to it. You might want to come get some food in a little while though." Asuma replied moving out the way so they could pass and closing the door once again as he left.

"You're such an idiot you know that. How could you have almost caused yourself to go into Chakra exhaustion? You would've missed the final stage of the chunin exams. Moron." Moegi berated looking like she was about to hit him at the same time but thought better of it.

"Well I got us here in a pretty awesome time didn't I?" Konohamaru asked with a wince at the truth in her words. That had been rather careless. He wouldn't make the same mistake.

"Come on Moegi. I know we just got here but Konohamaru needs to get dressed and stuff. We should wait for him outside or something." Udon muttered seeing his friend's state of undress as he was only wearing a pair of boxers.

Konohamaru looked down at himself and shouted. He hadn't even realised. Boy this Suna weather sure was something. Moegi blushed before shuffling out the room with Udon in tow, leaving Konohamaru to freshen up.

* * *

"Oh man, oh man, oh man . . ." Konohamaru chanted. He was barely able to stay in one spot. He was standing in the line-up of the genin that had made it to the third round. They didn't even have to have preliminary matches. Gaara was giving a speech he wasn't listening to and Moegi was slowly getting more and more irritated with his excitement.

"Konohamaru!" She snapped in a tone that made the genin snap to attention. He knew that tone. The tone of an irritated kunoichi that had Tsunade worthy strength in their punches. It would not do to be punched by his teammate in front of everyone.

Now that he wasn't muttering under his breath other things started to make themselves known to the Sarutobi. The other genin were whispering amongst each other.

"_He's that one, yes that one_."

"_No way, that punk?_"

"_You've got to be joking. The Leaf really screwed up this time."_

"_That's the kid that was trained by the Kage." _

"_The Kage, you mean THE Kage?_"

Konohamaru sighed and tuned it all out, listening instead to nothing in particular. His eyes roamed over to where the Konoha Shinobi were watching. He could feel their gazes as though they were tiny needles. It wasn't very comfortable. However they were going to be doing that the entire time so he might as well get used to it.

The roar of the crowd bought Konohamaru back to the arena. It seemed the first match was about to begin. Alright! He grinned eagerly as he studied the board, taking in the flickering names.

Konohamaru Sarutobi VS . . . . . some name he couldn't pronounce. But that didn't matter since he had all the information he needed. He was first up and ready to kick ass. Just his luck, number one.

The other genin gave him varying looks before jumping out of the arena. "Good luck Konohamaru." Udon muttered while Moegi yelled, "Kick his ass."

Konohamaru eyed his opponent. Some ninja from Iwa. The proctor for this exam was Shikamaru and he regarded the two of them with his usual bored as hell expression.

"What, no pre-match slander?" he asked with an almost yawn. "No? Alright then. Begin."

The Iwa nin was ironically the one Konohamaru had insulted in the first exam. Just because of that Konohamaru allowed the fist aimed for his face to connect. It wasn't a particularly hard one. Kakashi punched harder in a spar and so did Moegi so it wasn't a particularly painful one either.

The Iwa genin grinned like he'd just achieved something spectacular as the crowded cheered for him.

"Is that the best you can do?" Konohamaru asked calmly. "Let me show you something, a taste of that speed our Fourth Hokage used to kick your ass."

"That's it kid. I was going to go easy on you but now–" his words were cut off in a gurgling choke as Konohamaru suddenly showed up behind him, slamming a hand to the back of his head.

"Words are a waste of time. Your enemy could use that to get an advantage." Konohamaru quoted from memory as Nin had often said those words to him since he had a habit of mouthing off.

The Iwa nin wasn't out, Konohamaru hadn't given him the luxury of a quick defeat. No. He was going to make this as humiliating as possible.

His reply was an angry snarl and an off centre kick that was easily blocked. Konohamaru barely had to move to dodge the rain of blows aimed to break bones. That was the trick to an effective and confusing dodge. Move only enough to avoid the hit rather than use a lot of distance. Running around like that would only tire you out. But you had to be extremely confident in your ability to successfully _judge_ distance.

A sudden flash of light on metal caused Konohamaru to catch the genin's fist and literally throw him out of the way of a barrage of kunai and shuriken came his way. He spun around once to give himself the momentum he needed to throw the genin not only out of the way but clear out of the ring entirely. The dizzy Iwa nin landed in the crowd, not sure if it was worth going back into the ring or not.

"Get out of here Shikamaru!" Konohamaru yelled using a kunai to deflect the oncoming weapons. They were coming from all directions, making it hard to tell where they were truly coming from.

"I'm not leaving you." Shikamaru stated, pulling out his own kunai and deflecting the kunai and shuriken that came his way.

Seeing an opportunity Konohamaru clasped his hands together in a seal "Wind style: Wind gale jutsu!" All the approaching tools were blown off target, prematurely hitting other targets, like the wall and the ground instead.

"What the hell is happening?" Shikamaru snarled moving closer to Konohamaru.

"Someone who wasn't invited is attacking." Konohamaru replied, eyes searching for the next attack.

Four shadows detached themselves from the rest in the form of Shinobi. Each of them went to four different sections of the round arena, equal distances apart. Konohamaru's eyes widened in understanding.  
"Shikamaru, I need you to go to Uncle Asuma. He told me that there was a possibility of an attack and that should there be one I need to send you to him so that he can give you the battle plan. Hurry." Konohamaru said quickly and sharply. He was lying but it was necessary.

Shikamaru stared at him for a moment before going to the place where all the Konoha Shinobi were gathered but there were far less in the large area than when the match had started, most having gone to investigate. Konohamaru watched as Shikamaru walked over to a rapidly pacing Asuma, and said something. Confusion broke out on their features before understanding took over. Both Shikamaru and Asuma tried to dive straight back into the ring but were blown backwards again from the impact of the barrier activating.

Konohamaru found himself trapped and surrounded by ten or so masked and cloaked figures.

"You're the student of the Kage, eh?" The question was mocking and sarcastic, filled with amusement and sadistic glee. Konohamaru could no longer afford to hold back. "It's going to be especially fun killing you."

How had this all gone so wrong? It was supposed to be a simply chunin exam. Nin had wanted him to win, that was what the plan had been. He hadn't wanted Konohamaru to throw any of his matches. He'd been in Konoha for that first day after his return but had left after that meeting in Ichiraku Ramen. Now he was trapped with ten murderous Shinobi, with no easy way out. His best option would be to fight and sine he couldn't fight them fairly, he'd lose for sure, he'd have to fight dirty . . . using Nin-sensei's tricks. Problem was, those tricks were all S-rank, high chakra consumption jutsus. They were all he had so it was what he had to work with.

"Want to know why he's called the Kage?" Konohamaru asked with a smirk. "I'll show you."

He clasped his hands together, building his chakra for that specific jutsu. "Fire style: Kaleidoscope rain jutsu." This attack wasn't aimed at his opponents who all made a move to duck. Instead he fired one massive ball of blue fire at the sky pleased when the one ball of fire broke up into hundreds of little ones. He didn't waste time watching the fire, that part was for the enemy. He already knew that the balls of fire would explode into different colours. Each ball an explosion of heat and sparks, every one a different shade and colour.

It was a distraction jutsu.

He had already clasped his hands together again, letting his body fall forwards towards a hard ground that he did not meet. Instead he fell into his own shadow, going straight through it.

His body came up again in the shadow of his nearest opponent. In his hand he already held a kunai which he used to slice the throat of the stunned and distracted Shinobi.

By the time the ten foreign Shinobi even realised that it was all a distraction and not an attack, he'd already visited the shadows of five of them. Half down, another half to go but using this method was taxing. He didn't have the reserves like Nin did. He had to make his entire body disappear and reappear in a mere instant, stretching himself over long distances.

Above them the jutsu was starting to disperse anyway, having served its purpose. It was not a jutsu he'd be able to use again for that purpose alone. He could use it to attack but perhaps not right now and the longer he waited the less chakra he'd have and the less chance he'd have of actually being able to use it again anytime soon.

Konohamaru narrowed his eyes as he faced the now seething Shinobi. Something was off. He couldn't hear a thing, not the crowd and not the other Shinobi who with a risky glance were indeed yelling at him. He didn't look long enough to decipher what they were saying, it was too dangerous.

Konohamaru took in the fact that he'd just killed five Shinobi and he hadn't even realised it. His stomach lurched but he managed to supress the urge to throw up. There'd be time for that later.

Still, he'd never killed anyone before. Nin had said he would eventually have to, that as a Shinobi it was part of the job description but he'd stupidly believed that he wouldn't have to do that for a while yet.

"I see he's trained you well. I never would have pegged that brat as a teacher. He's far too dense."

Dense? What was he talking about? Nin-sensei had mastered so many jutsu, knew so many things. He was brilliant at everything. Then there was the whole brat thing. Who one earth would call Nin-sensei a brat? No one knew how old he really was, not even Konohamaru. People usually called people younger than themselves a brat so was the speaker really old, or did he know something.

Konohamaru didn't have time to think anymore and five entirely different jutsus came at him from five different directions.

* * *

"What the hell was he thinking!?" Asuma seethed.

"He's already used up half of his chakra." Hinata informed them, her eyes taking in every detail of the fight with vapid attention.

"Kakashi, find a way to get in there NOW!" Asuma yelled looking to the silver haired jonin who was already scanning the barrier with his Sharingan.

Kiba and Akamaru had disappeared muttering something about tunnelling their way inside the arena. Anko was working in conjunction with the sand Shinobi to try and figure out who they were and how they had gotten in.

"Excuse me. Perhaps we can help." A small voice muttered approaching them cautiously.

Asuma and Shikamaru turned to look at the small boy whose teammates and sensei were standing behind him. He was one of the finalist genin. "My name is Ranmaru. This is my sensei, Raiga." He introduced. Raiga. That name was familiar.

"You're one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist." Kakashi stated in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"The boy's teacher, Nin. I owed him a favour and he cashed in. Said we were to make sure nothing happened to his student. Guess we're doing a poor job of it." Raiga muttered getting uncomfortable. This was not an ideal situation for him.

"Must have been some favour." Tsunade whistled.

"Anyways, this barrier. It blocks out sound on a one way basis. He cannot hear you but you can hear him. Other than that I have yet to determine what else it does other than keep him in and us out." Ranmaru interrupted, feeling the need to protect Raiga, even if it was from something as insignificant as being uncomfortable.

"Alright, let's just focus on breaking that barrier. We can deal with missing-nin afterwards. I will not lose that genin so get moving." Tsunade barked.

* * *

Konohamaru ducked and dived out of the way, too slow to make any counter attacks. He was fast, for a genin, he might even be faster than your average chunin but he still didn't match up to a jonin. All he could do right now until an opportunity presented itself was dodge.

"Run while you still can. Killing you is turning out to be far more amusing than I ever imagined." The sadistic laugh was one that was going to be haunting his nightmares for years to come if he managed to get out of here. No. Not if, when.

Making up his mind Konohamaru made a chakra infused dash to a spot of relative safety, hands already moving through the signs for his next jutsu. Skidding to a halt he changed his direction so suddenly that his enemy did not react for a second too long. That second was all he needed.

"Fire style: Fire Python jutsu." Blowing out a long stream of fire Konohamaru watched as the ribbon of fire grew a life of its own and started to slither through the air, hissing and spitting as it consumed oxygen. He was only able to successfully split this jutsu into three. So it was now only three pythons of fire striking out at a blinding speed to wrap around their prey. Three enemy Shinobi screamed in pain as they met a fiery and painful end, slowly yet rapidly burning to a crisp as the snake wrapped firmly around each one apart from two.

Up in the stands Asuma muttered under his breath that that was now three assassination jutsus his young nephew knew, three very powerful and brutally effective ones.

Seven down, no eight down and only two to go.

"Who are you?" Konohamaru demanded, trying to buy himself some time to think of the next strategy.

"No one you really know anything about. Just a Shinobi on a mission. I gotta say, I never thought you'd be this much trouble. However you're still just a child. Even you cannot keep this up forever. Already you show signs of fatigue. Just how many more of those powerful jutsus can you perform? Do you even know any more?"

One on one taijutsu would never work. He didn't have the raw strength needed to take them out. He had speed but not enough to do much more than dodge and evade attacks. All he really had was an advantage in his knowledge of jutsus and even that was quickly running out. Some things you could only use once. The same tricks rarely worked twice in the Shinobi world.

He knew other jutsus, less powerful ones but they weren't going to be enough.

Konohamaru clasped his hands together but didn't get to perform the jutsu as a barrage of shuriken forced him to jump out of the way. Alright, fine.

Pulling out his own kunai he threw it at the Shinobi, hands rapidly flowing from one seal to the next. "Kunai Shadow clone jutsu." The lone Kunai burst into a black cloud of pointy objects. Konohamaru nearly cried when only one of them wasn't quick enough to get out of the way, ending up getting skewered in the process.

He could use Fire release: Ash pile burning but that would take more chakra than was smart. There was a chance his opponent could escape and then he'd be far too exhausted to do much more than stick his tongue out.

Instead he reached into his pouch, but was forced to duck once again as his enemy got tired of waiting or had decided that he wasn't chancing another surprise. Konohamaru was successfully kept busy as he was forced to duck and dodge blows in an unwanted taijutsu match with a jonin hell bent on killing him. At least he hoped it was a jonin. Anything higher and he was royally screwed.

Well there was one way to buy himself some time even if it was a painful way. Placing his hand in his pouch so that he'd be ready, Konohamaru allowed a fist to connect sending his body flying through the air. Although pain throbbed from the point of impact and reverberated throughout his left side he ignored it as he pulled out the scroll. Biting his thumb and throwing open the scroll he summoned the staff sealed inside.

It had reminded him of his grandfather and so he'd insisted upon learning how to use it. It wasn't as indestructible as an Enma monkey King turned staff would be but it wasn't a piece of wood either.

Konohamaru landed on his feet, holding the staff out in front of him. Now he could at least keep his opponent at a distance.

"A stick? That's the best you got." The Shinobi laughed. A full blown, belly aching laugh.

Konohamaru repaid him for his mistake by leaping up and swinging his staff around and slamming it into the Shinobi's head. Thank the Gods for stupidity.

The ninja swayed before falling to the ground, unconscious for now.

Konohamaru approached wearily, not sure if this just might be an act and nothing more. Carefully he bent down and pulled off the Shinobi's mask, his face grim with determination. He wanted to know who this was because something had been niggling in the back of his mind. He knew this voice, only he'd never heard it so cruel so he couldn't place it.

When the face was revealed the small genin gasped and stumbled back. "Oh no. Nononononononono . . ." He scrambled back further, needed to put more physical distance between himself and the other Shinobi.

"_Konohamaru, meet Lin. He's been with me since the old age days." Nin-sensei joked as he laughed. He was never this open so he must be very comfortable with this Lin guy. _

_Konohamaru peered around Nin so that he could see the old man who was chuckling along with Nin. Behind him appeared to a bodyguard of some sort, eyes warm yet watchful. He smiled at Konohamaru who hesitated before reticently grinning back. He had to behave after all and acting like an idiot in front of a man who was clearly important to his sensei just would not do. _

"Nin-sensei . . . he's in trouble."

The Shinobi that he'd just knocked out was the bodyguard of Lin. That meant one of two things. One, Lin had betrayed Nin or two, someone had betrayed Lin and was using his men. Either way, Nin-sensei was in trouble because he'd been about to do a mission for Lin when Konohamaru left to return to Konoha. He knew that the mission was one that would've taken at least a month to plan out, just to plan out. He still had to actually do the mission, meaning he'd be on that mission very soon or round about now.

If Lin's men were here, then what was happening to Nin-sensei?

Konohamaru scrambled around before he managed to find what he was looking for. He'd dropped the scroll he'd used earlier and needed it once again. Dropping it had been careless but he'd needed to. Now however he needed one other thing that was stored inside it.

Using his still bleeding thumb the young genin slashed his blood across the paper and caught the single weapon that poofed into existence.

Staring down at the three pronged kunai in his hands with the seals wrapped around the handle, Konohamaru trembled. "_Only in times of extreme emergency. As in worse than death_." Nin had warned him with those words. Did this count? It had seemed rather important to him that Konohamaru understand that he wasn't to use this lightly.

Looking back at the unconscious ninja Konohamaru made up his mind and gripped the kunai tightly.

* * *

"What is he doing?" Kiba asked, squinting done at the genin, completely forgetting about the large screens decorating the stands.

"He has a weapon in his hands. But this one is different. It looks like a kunai but it's also three pronged, with a seal on the handle." Hinata informed her teammate. True, there were screens everywhere but Konohamaru had managed to stand at an angle that just just hid his hands from view.

"A three pronged kunai with a seal on the handle?" Kakashi asked sharply, eyes travelling to Asuma who looked strangely pale. Tsunade had also seemed to lose all the colour in her face, her expression grave.

"If that's what I think it is, we're in a lot of shit." She muttered turning to look at Jiraiya who had up till now been muttering about the jutsus Konohamaru had been using. His face was one of expectant surprise, rather than one of deathly concern as most of the other older Konoha Shinobi seemed to be. His eyes were riveted on Konohamaru, waiting to see what he would do.

Konohamaru lifted his hand and threw the kunai, putting his chakra into the seal to alert its owner of its path as he did so.


	5. Chapter 5

**I know I updated like two days ago but I WANT TO GET TO NARUTO TOO! And I hate cliff hangers so I worked on this for you guys. Naruto will be more in chapter 6 and onwards. I'm just as excited as you guys are. XD**

**Chapter 5**

He waited only a heartbeat before a figure appeared, hand clasped around the handle of the kunai.

"Of all the people who could've saved me, I never thought it'd be you, Konohamaru." A tired voice rasped softly before the heavily clothed figure of Nin dropped to his knees. He was still wearing his shades and thick blue hoodie, mask firmly in place, more clothes than most Shinobi wore as Konohamaru knew just how many layers were under that hoodie. It wasn't big just because it was oversized.

Nin looked completely fine, yet he seemed so . . . weak. There was just a feeling about him that made Konohamaru's breath catch in his throat and not in a good way. What had happened to him? Was Konohamaru too late?

Konohamaru hiccupped before sprinting over to his panting sensei, senses picking up on an internal struggle, a chakra battle that his sensei appeared to be losing.

"Sensei?" Konohamaru asked as he fell to his knees in front of the other Shinobi.

Nin did not answer him but rather gazed around them at the fallen Shinobi. It was terribly hard to know what the was thinking when he had those blasted sunglasses on.

"You missed one." Nin rasped, his voice sounding strained.

"It doesn't matter. Not now. What happened?" Konohamaru waved a hand dismissively, trying to bring the other Shinobi's attention back to him and find out what was wrong with him so that he could fix it.

"Take this." Nin said instead, pressing the three pronged kunai into Konohamaru's hands once again. "Hang it in your room when you get back, but not over your bed. That's a rather dumb thing to do. It might fall and skewer you in your sleep."

Konohamaru grew impatient and growled to voice that emotion to his sensei. He struck out and yanked the blasted sunglasses from Nin's eyes, wanting to know what the man was thinking.

"What's wrong sensei? Tsunade is right there. We can fix it." Konohamaru pressed, gesturing vaguely in Tsunade's actual direction.

"No, it's too late. It's already too late." Nin stated in a weirdly calm tone. Even his eyes were serene, at peace with this decision or situation or whatever messed up scenario it was. Whatever it was, it just wasn't fair!

_Life's not fair. _

Konohamaru didn't realise what Nin was saying at first, the words hadn't really sunk in yet but when they did the first thing the genin did was get angry.

"No!" Konohamaru shouted causing the other Shinobi to flinch, "You can't give up. You're still here. Your heart is still beating. There has to be a way. Just tell me how to break the barrier." Konohamaru's voice was almost pleading now, desperately clinging to his childlike perception of the world.

"Enough. It's too late. There is no antidote and not enough time to make one." Nin said more firmly but his voice was cracking and wavering. Konohamaru felt like crying. Nin had always been the untouchable one, the one that was supposed to be invincible.

"You can't leave me too!" Konohamaru shouted childishly. "I won't let you. I don't care what you say. I have to try! Tell me how to break the barrier."  
Nin sighed but it was like he'd expected it. That sigh was like he knew Konohamaru would not accept that he was going to die until he was well and truly dead, his heart no longer feebly pumping his chakra through his body. "I'm sorry Konohamaru, but this is the way of Shinobi, we live, we serve, we die."

"This isn't the way it's supposed to be! You're not supposed to just die." Konohamaru was fighting to hold back tears as he immaturely refused to believe what his sensei was telling him. Why did the people he care about always just leave and never come back? If not by dying, then by disappearing to places where no one could find them. Should he stop caring all together?

"How else did you think it ended? All Shinobi meet their end in battle. Not a single one of us haven't. Not any that I've ever heard of anyways. Now stop sniffling and come here."

Nin struggled to lift a hand as Konohamaru shuffled closer. Nin's fingers caressed the blue feather hanging around Konohamaru's neck before closing his hand around it and giving a small tug, pulling the feather free from the cord Konohamaru had attached it to.

A small spark of Chakra was ignited in Nin's enclosed fist before he handed the shimmery blue feather back to Konohamaru. The boy watched as the orange dot wiggled before expanding to cover the entire feather, changing its colour from blue to orange. But the changes didn't stop there. The entire form started to change as the feather began to grow, expand longwise more than outwardly. It grew volume and depth, gaining weight at the same time but not as much as one would expect from its size.

Konohamaru couldn't breathe as he took in the object in his hands. Looking up to his sensei for an explanation he saw a gentle smile in Nin's chestnut eyes. "Use that to break the barrier but get that moron Shi to blow that stupid horn of his at the same time."

"It's an ocarina." Konohamaru corrected automatically, eyes roaming the surrounding stands to find the blond Shinobi from the Shiin clan.

"You should hurry, Konohamaru. I told you about the seals on my body and what they would do in the event of my death." Nin warned softly, his voice growing fainter.

Konohamaru spotted Shi and waved to him before placing his hands to his mouth in an imitation of playing the instrument. When Shi nodded and pulled out his ocarina Konohamaru turned back to Nin who was drooping now.

"Don't forget about those dreams of yours. I'd hate to think I wasted my time." Nin chuckled.

The seals were already lighting up, showing through the parts of Nin's skin that were exposed.

"I hate you for leaving me you know." Konohamaru sniffed.

"Yeah, yeah I'll miss you too. But you have to hurry now. I'll try to keep breathing long enough to buy you time to get out of here." Nin smiled but his voice was so faint, his eyes glazing over.

Konohamaru picked up the orange sheath of the sword Nin had created just for him and tucked the three pronged kunai into his pouch. With a final glance at Nin he started to back away, running towards Shi.

He signalled Shi to begin playing and Shi's music was the first outside sound to break through the barrier since its creation. A haunting melody that seemed fitting for the situation. Konohamaru drew the blade, barely noticing the fact that it was a pale blue that was almost silver. Instead his eyes took in the ripple in the barrier, a weakness caused by Shi's ninjutsu, a weakness he could target.

The sound of Nin's body falling with a soft thump to the ground was masked by the shattering of the barrier that had kept all help away from Konohamaru, had kept the young genin prisoner.

Konohamaru landed next to Shi who stopped playing just as the first impact waves of the explosion passed over him, ruffling his clothes and hair.

The young genin allowed himself to be pulled into his Uncle's embrace, if only to hide the tears streaming down his face. After all, Shinobi weren't supposed to show emotion.

* * *

"Was all that really necessary?"

Nin, completely out of his disguise turned to the sand clone of his friend who just happened to be the Kazekage. "Yes. The Akatsuki are behind the attempted killing. Sasori of the Red Sand if I'm not mistaken. He's the poison expert, correct." Not a question, a statement that needed no answer. Not for Nin. "Lin was dead by the time I got there. I'll have to repay the favour tenfold. But for now, this is necessary."

"And you want them to believe you're dead." Gaara asked for clarification.

"Yes. They won't make a move unless I'm out of the picture. I want to kill that bastard Deidera and now his partner, Sasori so this, while drastic, is essential." Nin replied, repeating much the same thing as he'd said before only using different words while leaning forward on the railing, his blonde hair waving in the wind that had given Suna its name as the Village hidden in the wind. Blue eyes turned to look at the pale turquoise of his friend's.

"And the first one they'll come after is me." Gaara once again clarified.

"Most likely. But they won't be expecting me and I can finally get rid of that favour I owe you."

"Forget it. You have no choice but to protect me, just because you owe me a favour. Isn't that what you said? Anyways if you're going to use me as bait you're still going to owe me that favour so you'd better know what you're doing." Gaara huffed.

"Yeah yeah. Don't get your nickers in a twist. It was worth a shot." Nin sighed.

"Did you have to make the boy believe the lie as well?" Gaara asked after a brief pause.

"Konohamaru did well but all this is going to catch up to him. His mind will be unstable for a short period. I wonder if that Uncle of his will be able to help with that." Nin sighed regretfully, "And yes, I had to make him believe it. If he didn't then others would have noticed and it would've been a waste of time."

"So are you going back to Konoha?" Gaara asked quietly, noticing that this was not a topic that Nin wished to discuss further just by the tone of his voice.  
"I suppose I'll have to. After all _he's_ not following the plan. I have to correct that." Nin frowned. Gaara's own frown had deepened but he didn't say a word. He understood far too well the pain that his blonde haired, blue eyed friend was feeling so he knew he had no place to say anything about the way he chose to cope with it. It was in fact far more healthy than how he himself had chosen to deal with a very similar pain. Gaara just hoped that he would not fall too far into the darkness.

* * *

Tsunade had thought it best to place Konohamaru into a medically induced coma until their return to Konoha. Hopefully the rest to his mind would help. They hadn't been able to return to Konoha straight away as most had opted for the continuation of the Chunin exams. Some called it practical while Tsunade called it kicking the Leaf while they were down.

Moegi and Udon had been shaken at Konohamaru's display but then again, so had all the other genin and once again, matches against the Leaf genin were forfeited before they were even begun on the assumption that Moegi and Udon were on the same level as Konohamaru. A plus to be sure but not really helpful in decided whether or not to promote the brats.

Due to the mess the ring was in the exam had been postponed by one day. Konoha had sprung at the chance to collect the bodies, if only to gain what was left of Nin. There was that nasty little rumour that he was from the Leaf and perhaps anything they could find of him could tell them something about his origins.

When anyone else made a move to protest, Tsunade had childishly pulled rank as the medical specialist.

In Nin's explosion that one ninja Konohamaru hadn't killed had not made it. He joined the body count at a sweat dropping eleven, only one of which not being caused by Konohamaru. That had caused quite the scare. While everyone had at first been frantically trying to find a way to save the genin, the genin in question had promptly decided that waiting was not for him and had delivered astounding blows to his vastly superior enemies. Superior was something they were all sure of since he had avoided any and all direct confrontations and had used quick deadly assassination jutsus to get the job done. Out matched or not, the genin had succeeded and had still been standing in the end. A feat to behold indeed.

Then there was the buzz about Nin himself. The Shinobi had virtually showed up out of nowhere, using a jutsu made famous by the Fourth Hokage. This supposedly all-knowing being that had God like powers had just dropped dead in the middle of the arena. Tsunade was finding it a little hard to swallow but Hinata had assured them all that this was no illusion nor was it a clone and with Kakashi Hatake backing up that statement there was no other choice than to believe that the great and all powerful Kage was now dead, lying scattered across the chunin exams arena with his young student in complete disarray.

Their very first meeting with Nin sure had been an explosive one. Tsunade sighed her disappointment as she snuck some more sake, although she felt she deserved it now more than ever. Her first chance to meet this amazing ninja and he went and blew himself up to smithereens. No fair.

Now back in Konoha, Tsunade was back to gruelling at her desk, the paper work piled high in her brief absence. A knock on the door was her saving grace, a short respite from the painstaking task of sorting through the most trivial of matters.

"I'm sorry to bother you Lady Tsunade, but Konohamaru is awake and has vanished from the hospital." Shizune informed cautiously, ready to duck should anything be thrown.

"How do you know he's awake and not simply taken? He displayed a fair amount of skill in the chunin exams. In fact I'm thinking of promoting the brats. All three of them." Tsunade asked and commented.

"An ANBU squad saw him leave through the window but he disappeared before they could detain him." Shizune replied, deciding the question was more important than the musings.

"Alright, send Team 7 out to find him. I'm thinking of placing Konohamaru on the team as a permanent addition anyways." Tsunade sighed, grumbling something under her breath.

"Hai."

* * *

"Planning on coming down anytime soon?"

Konohamaru looked down at the Shinobi who had been rude enough to interrupt his muddled thoughts. Figured. It was Kakashi Hatake with the other tag alongs from Team 7.

"No." Konohamaru replied tonelessly.

"That's too bad. The Hokage wants to see you." Sakura said with a soft smile.

"So?"

"When the Hokage calls you answer." Sasuke sneered, ever the sympathetic one.

Konohamaru just stared blankly at the Uchiha, not even bothering to snap something in reply. As it was Team 7 wasn't particularly comfortable with their location. They'd rather be in Lightning country instead. In fact they'd rather be just about _anywhere_ else than where they currently were.

Sakura unconsciously shivered and glanced around instinctively before catching the action and returning her gaze to the genin in the tree. A breeze blew through the semi enclosed space and the swing attached to the tree swayed with a slight creak.

After a long, awkward and uncomfortable silence Konohamaru stood and hopped down from the tree branch, his features completely blank. So it appeared he was going to come without a fight after all. That was good since none of them particularly wanted to tangle with the disconsolate genin at the moment. All that induced sleeping had given him plenty of time to regain all of his chakra.

As they hopped onto the roof of a building nearby, Sakura couldn't help the miserable glance over her shoulder at the once happy building of the Academy.

* * *

"Enter." The command was tired, yet still managing to command an air of respect that was hard to ignore. The sun lowering towards the horizon was a good indication of just how long the Hokage had been in the office. She was always here before the sun had even risen, so by now she must be pretty exhausted.

"Lady Tsunade, we've brought Konohamaru Sarutobi, as requested." Sakura announced, her posture one of disciplined attention when she stopped in front of the paper littered desk.

Neji Hyuga was already in the room, standing silently to one side as though waiting. His pale, pupil-less eyes took in each member of Team 7 and the completely blank Konohamaru with a gaze that suggested he was seeing right through you. With Neji, one was never truly sure.

"I'm sorry about your sensei, Konohamaru." Tsunade stated, actually surprising even herself with how genuine she sounded. "He was a great Shinobi but like all great Shinobi, he fell in battle. The truest way for a ninja to due. Take heart in that."

She received a curt nod in reply.

"On to other things. Congratulations Konohamaru, I'm promoting you to chunin. Your efforts at the exams were superb and a honestly a rarity that has not been seen in years. It's clear that you inherited your grandfather's legacy." Tsunade said as warmly as she could muster.

Another curt nod. Not even a twitch on those blank features. A small frown was beginning to form on the Hokage's face but she reminded herself that Konohamaru had had to deal with a lot of loss in his young life so she should allow him his coping method. It was better than Asuma's who had chosen cigarettes. Even Sarutobi-sensei had been terrible but smoking that pipe of his. Hopefully it wasn't a habit that ran in the family.

"As promised, we're going to be doing a full medical examination. Neji and myself will be checking to see if there is any damage to your body and chakra networks. However your mind is something we will not evaluate. Inoichi point blank refuses to evaluate the mind of a thirteen year old as it's still in development and he does not wish to accidently change something he shouldn't." Tsunade continued when she received no answer and no questions. "Team 7, you might as well wait over there. This shouldn't take more than an hour."

She waved her hand in the general direction of the corner of the room opposite Neji. The three ninja moved to their gestured corner without a word while Tsunade stood and moved around the table to get closer to Konohamaru.

Over the course of the next hour Konohamaru was told to do things such as concentrate his chakra, then to only concentrate his chakra with one hand, then the other hand and so on all the while being scrutinised, poked, prodded and moved around with an ease that was rather terrifying.

The genin in question however, didn't seem to mind one bit. He's face remained blank throughout the whole thing, even growing slightly distant.

Any question that was asked was answered with a brief one word that was said as tonelessly as a rock might, if a rock could talk.

In the end it was decided that Konohamaru was in perfect health, physically. He was in peak physical condition for his age and body standards as well had his chakra network having reached its full potential for his age. Since he was still young, his chakra networks were still in the development stages and Neji had actually be surprised by their current development already but he had stated that it wasn't impossible as people like Kakashi probably had more developed networks at the age of thirteen.

"So it seems our concerns were unfounded, but not unreasonable. Nin appeared to be a very good teacher. It's a shame that he died." Tsunade sighed, moving to sit at her desk again as Neji was dismissed. The Hyuga left with a small bow and a polite 'Have a good day. You know where I am should you need me again.'

This time, her words seemed to cause a reaction Konohamaru. Nothing more than a slow blink as though he was sluggishly coming back to himself from some distant escape.

His hand lifted and went to his kunai pouch, seeking a weapon. "You know something, Nin-sensei was far too good to simply get caught in something like that. There's more to it." Konohamaru stated in a low voice, more to himself than the people in the room. In fact it was like he didn't even realise where he was.

When he removed his hand from his pouch he had the three pronged kunai in his hand. He stepped forward and buried the sharp point of the blade into the Hokage's desk, his fingers lingering on the handle long enough to infuse it with chakra. Then he lowered his hand and stepped back.

A long moment of tense silence that felt like an eternity passed before a sudden and loud crack filled the room. A Shinobi form of courtesy. Nin was announcing his arrival.

There was a flash of light on metal and the three pronged kunai was lifted from the desk and thrown at Konohamaru's feet.

"That wasn't a nice trick." Konohamaru growled scooping up the Kunai and placing it back in his pouch.

"Well, it served its purpose. I told you that it was imperative that you were in the chunin exams this time around. I had my reasons."

A Shinobi was suddenly just there, sitting calmly on the top of the Hokage's desk, somehow managing to bend around the paperwork and still look natural. From the clothing and the lack of features visible it was safe to assume that this was Nin, the Shinobi everyone believed to be dead.

"So this is the Leaf village huh?" Nin commented hopping off the table and looking around the room.

Konohamaru's anger spiked and he swung a fist at the seemingly distracted ninja only for his fist to be caught, and every other punch that followed.

"Just. Tell. Me. Why." Every word was emphasised with an attempted blow upon Nin's person. Every punch and kick was blocked or dodged, much the same way Konohamaru had displayed in the chunin exams, by moving as small a distance as possible. Every missed punch or kick was met with more frustration and ferocity.

"Akatsuki." Nin stated and Konohamaru froze.

"I need them to believe that I'm dead, which brings me to the Hokage. I need to speak to you." Nin had turned from playfully distracted to heart attack serious so fast the Hokage's head was starting to hurt. "I suppose that other sannin is needed." Nin added almost as an afterthought. "With that in mind I had dispatched a shadow clone to approach him the moment I arrived. It shouldn't be long now."

Just as he finished the sentence there was a puff of smoke and Jiraiya himself was suddenly standing in the office with them, looking like he wasn't sure if he should be utterly bewildered or extremely angry.

"So it's you again." Jiraiya dead panned when he looked at the unfamiliar yet very familiar Shinobi in the Hokage's office. He suppressed the shiver as that first meeting came to mind. He didn't feel like dwelling on it and pushed it to the deepest corners of his mind.

The room was slowly beginning to fill with an almost gleeful malice that made Konohamaru want to shudder but there was a playful edge to the intent that was washing over them, making it seem slightly less threatening than what it undoubtedly could be.

Just as suddenly as it had filled the room the playful yet dangerous intent snapped back to Nin, as though it had never even been there in the first place. "Now that we're all here, I can start to explain. As I'm sure you are well aware, the Akatsuki have been ready to make a move for the past two and a half years give or take, but what you don't know is why they haven't made a move yet." Nin began, sitting down on the edge of the Hokage's desk and if the twitching in her left eyebrow was anything to go by she didn't appreciate the gesture.

"And let me guess, you know perfectly well why they're been sitting on their hands for so long." Jiraiya stated sarcastically.

"Two words. Naruto Uzumaki. The leader of the Akatsuki is quite the perfectionist. He wants to know where all the Jinchuriki are before making a move to capture them. He's spent the first three and a half years after Uzumaki's disappearance just trying to find him." Nin held up two fingers to indicate the two words while the number of fingers changed every time he mentioned numbers.

"What's a Jinchuriki and what's it got to do with Naruto?" Sasuke demanded.

"Do they know?" Nin asked suddenly going very quiet.

Tsunade, Jiraiya and Kakashi shook their heads. "Which brings me to the question of how you know about it. It wasn't exactly advertised." Tsunade grumbled.

"You'd be surprised at what I know but that's beside the point. Can I continue the explanation or do they have to scram?" Nin asked waving a hand dismissively.

"No, you may continue. We'll explain it them later." Jiraiya stated after a nod from Tsunade.

"I'll just do it now. When Uzumaki first went missing, everyone made a big deal right?" Nin had now turned his attention to Sasuke, Sakura and Konohamaru. They nodded slowly trying to see where this was going. "But it wasn't really like they were worried about him, at least not most of them. It was more like everyone was really worried about the village?" Nin continued. After a moment they nodded again, as though they'd had to think about it. "Then when it was decided that they could no longer actively spend so many resources on looking for him, everything got really tense in the village. It probably still is but you've gotten so used to it that you don't even notice it any more. But the biggest change was the way you were trained. All the graduated genin were all put into a different, faster training program, probably under some silly excuse like where ever Naruto is he's in big trouble so you have to be really strong so that you can bring him back to Konoha, right?"

He didn't get a reply but they all three stiffened so he figured he was right. Of course he was. He knew everything. He'd watched them, heard about them, avoided them. He had to be careful now. He couldn't afford to slip up and give the game away. He was far too close and had worked far too hard for that.

"Naruto Uzumaki was what the Shinobi call a Jinchuriki. Seventeen years ago, when the Leaf was under attack from the Kyuubi, you were all told that the Fourth Hokage died defeating the beast. However this is slightly inaccurate. He didn't defeat the beast in the way you're thinking. He sealed the Nine-tailed fox within a new born baby. He sealed it into Uzumaki who was born the same day of the attack. That is what makes him a Jinchuriki." Nin paused here to give them time to absorb his words. He saw Konohamaru's mouth gapping open in shock while Sakura had her hands in front of her mouth. Sasuke didn't appear outwardly changed but on the inside he was reeling. Nin could sense the turbulence even though he hid it well.

"That is also why it was so important that Naruto was found and bought back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. In the wrong hands, Naruto could be used as a weapon of total and utter destruction." Nin continued, "He's not the only one. There are nine tailed beasts in total. The hidden villages use possession of these beasts as a precarious way to sort of balance the power. The power is kept, as are the tailed beasts, in the form of a Jinchuriki, a living cage. You two," He gestured to Sakura and Sasuke, "Already met another one. Gaara, at the Chunin exams, was heavily under the influence of the one-tailed beast."

"So Jinchuriki are all people who have tailed beasts sealed with in them?" Sakura asked, her green eyes wide with horror.

"Yes. A great burden for any person to bear. All Jinchuriki are treated as though they are the demons themselves, like how Naruto was treated when he was younger. They're shunned and out casted yet they're expected to serve their village without question, to obey orders without fail. You see those who hold a tailed beast within them are powerful beyond imagination and not everyone can be a Jinchuriki. The more powerful the demon the fewer people there are that are capable of holding them within themselves. The problem with the demons is although you technically have an almost unlimited supply of chakra, the beasts don't like being sealed and they certainly don't like sharing. They'll only step in if the host is about to die. Mostly though they don't care, and therefore they cannot be controlled, something the hidden villages have been trying to achieve since the creation of Jinchuriki. To my knowledge the Jinchuriki of the eight-tails has been able to achieve the most control over his tailed beast to date but he doesn't have complete control." Kakashi added, in a low tone, almost as though the topic was one he didn't agree with.

"Correct. This explanation is a very rudimentary and crude one but we don't have time for in depth politics. So we'll get to that later. For the moment I'll continue with the Akatsuki." Nin turned his attention back to Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"The Akatsuki were unsuccessful in finding Uzumaki and the leader grew to believe that Naruto was still in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, only he was in hiding and you'd lied to the other Shinobi nations by saying that he'd run away. About a year ago, two of them began to sort of camp out, on the borders of the village. They've been trying to gather information without actually having to enter the village at all." Nin stopped here knowing that there was going to be questions.

"Wait! There are two Akatsuki members camped on our boarders and we didn't even notice?" Jiraiya yelled in anger.

"To be fair, they're using genjutsu." Nin shrugged, his gaze going to Sasuke but since he was wearing shades, they wouldn't be able to tell that.

"Hang on, why are you here, and why are you telling us this?" Kakashi interrupted before the rant could continue.

"After six months of being unable to learn anything, they've decided to move ahead with their plans and start capturing the Jinchuriki. The two who had originally watched the village stayed and are still watching while the rest of them move into position to capture the Jinchuriki. However, they knew about me, just as I knew about them. We've met before and we've danced politely around each other. I don't interfere in their missions and they don't interfere in mine, usually. My problem and their problem, after having decided to act now comes from their first target . . . Gaara." Nin explained, the barely leashed anger finally showing in his voice. He didn't like the fact that they were going after Gaara.

"They knew that with me in the picture and with me protecting the Kazekage they would never get close enough to capture him. They had to kill me first. I became aware of their plans almost as soon as they started so I had plenty of time to prepare a counter. This is where the Leaf comes in." Nin had managed to calm his voice once more so that it was the cool, nearly toneless drawl from before once again. Working on hiding his emotions had been hard for him. He still slipped up. His still couldn't keep his face blank, one of the reasons he covered it.

"So you faked your own death to allow the Akatsuki to start acting? If you'd remained alive then they'd have left the tailed beasts alone." Jiraiya growled in anger.

"Do you really believe that? They would have left Gaara for last and would have come after him regardless of my existence or not. Right now they're only acting on a petty whim of their leader but that whim will disappear the moment he grows impatient which will be soon. If they attack Gaara now I can start happily killing them. I don't agree with their plans just as much as you don't." Nin snapped back, "Besides they have other motives for trying to kill me than just to get to Gaara. Also I don't particularly like dodging attacks everywhere I go. They managed to form an assassination plot against me after learning only two things. One, I'm indebted to Gaara so I have to protect him till that debt is paid, and two I get missions from someone more than once. They targeted that person and used my assumed trust in him to try and kill me. It would have worked if I hadn't known about their plan."

"Assumed trust?" Tsunade asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, they made the assumption that I let my guard down around him enough to be poisoned. They almost made the assumption that I meet with my clients in person. I don't. Shadow clones are far more useful." Nin shrugged. "Back to their other objective for trying to kill me, they believe that Naruto will try and save Gaara and that's where I come in."

"Hang on, hang on. There's something that's been bugging me. How did you manage to fool both the Sharingan and the Byakugan when you faked your own death?" Kakashi suddenly interrupted.

"Oh, that was easy. Ranmaru has a rather interesting Kekkei Genkai. Among its uses is the ability to disrupt eye-based Kekkei Genkai as well as apply genjutsu that can fool even the Byakugan. It's a powerful eye-based Kekkei Genkai that might even be more powerful than the Sharingan and the Byakugan. However Ranmaru is frail and I've come to believe that any line of his while possessing such a powerful Kekkei Genkai will also be frail." Nin explained a hint of sympathy and regret in his tone, just a fraction of what he truly felt. He believed that it took so much chakra to use the eyes that it was probably the case of the frailness to begin with. Their greatest gift was their downfall. Not unlike the Uchiha clan.

"I see. That is a shame." Kakashi muttered falling silent and observant once more.

"Anyways, when Gaara is attacked by the Akatsuki, they're expecting to be able to tame him and extract the one-tails from him, ultimately killing him. They're also expecting Naruto to appear and when he doesn't they'll attack the village directly. Now as we all know, Naruto isn't here. So I've decided to appease both myself and Gaara, and perhaps Konohamaru, I'm going to help you out. In fact we'll be helping each other out." Nin continued.

"And how exactly are you going to help us out?" Tsunade asked, growing suspicious.

"Easy. They want Naruto, so they're 'get' Naruto." Nin clasped his hands together and gathered his chakra before a puff of smoke announced a change in appearance. Blonde hair was the first to appear, large blue eyes were next. A sadistic smile completed the face of the genin they'd all been looking for for far too long.

The clothes were simply, black Shinobi garb without the vests. Not a single speck of orange decorated the items and that was as un-Naruto like as it got. Nin did this on purpose. He knew that Kakashi would have at least noticed the orange jumpsuits he'd left behind, noticed that he'd left _all_ of them and so why should he wear that blasted colour. All he wanted was to be noticed but, well orange apparently hadn't been the way to go about it. Power seemed to be the only thing people noticed, proven by the fact that people were noticing him now, when he was feared and respected by all the hidden villages. Still this wasn't enough. He wasn't strong enough.

"You're missing the whiskers."

Nin sadistic smile melted off his face when he looked at the one that had spoken, Sasuke. He looked . . . almost pained. It got better and better. He hadn't dropped his original disguise, he'd layered it so that the "Naruto" that he was wearing wasn't the real one. He'd been focusing on hiding the whiskers for so long, he'd forgotten to add them here. Oh well that would only work in his favour since mistakes took suspicion away from him.

"When the Akatsuki come," Nin started, his voice completely different, several pitches more annoying and raising his hands to his cheeks , placing two chakra glowing fingers on each side, "I will go with the team you send to help Gaara, appearing like this. Might I suggest Team 7, since they already know it's a disguise." He swiped the blue chakra across his cheeks, feeling it tingle as the whisker markings appeared. "And it's expected that Naruto appear with his own team. I'm not sure how you'll explain his reappearance, to your village or your other teams unless you wait till the team is out of the village before I change my appearance."

He purposefully didn't drop the disguise, watching how they stared at him with broken guilt in their eyes. Tsunade he really had no qualms with and even to an extent Jiraiya but Team 7 and the rest of the Village . . . he hated them. Well maybe not hate. They were just the innocent bystanders that really knew nothing better, sheep following the Sheppard. All of them except for Sasuke Uchiha. There was a special place in Nin's heart for the Uchiha, one that absolutely thrived on loathing him, planning his utter demise and destruction of his dreams. That place was only ever satisfied if fed a continuous diet of day dreams of causing the Uchiha as much pain as humanly possible. Well for a Jinchuriki, he had some advantages. He could cause as much pain as demonly possibly.

"This proposal of yours will have to be given some thought, Nin. You understand how we cannot simply just agree to it. Firstly, how will we explain _you_ to the others? You can't just pop up and we can't say oh guess what, the Kage is alive and well and has decided to work with the Leaf. If the other villages found that out we'd be in serious trouble. They'd see it as we have too much power regardless of the fact that we lost our Jinchuriki." Tsunade began, breaking the tense spell everyone had been under. "For the time being, what do you plan to do? You went to all that trouble of faking your death, so where do you plan to go now?"

"The best disguise is a disguise that isn't one at all." Nin said just as a puff of smoke surrounded him. He was using smoke to be polite. He didn't have to. Now he stood in his original disguise, and he lifted an orange gloved hand to pull off his shades and place them on the desk, revealing his light, expressive, chestnut eyes. Next he lowered his hood and pulled off the royal blue hoodie, revealing hair darker than Sasuke's and styled much like Kakashi's. On Nin's forehead, was a headband. One that he probably should have taken off before coming here. It sported a slashed Leaf symbol.

He undid the tie and pulled it off, placing it with his other things he'd already removed, leaving his hair to fall down, like Kakashi's did when he removed his headband. Nin was left standing in a black sleeveless shirt with a mask attachment, black pants and deep brown boots with a bag on his back, the strap slung across his torso from right to left.

"No one has ever seen me like this since I was like twelve." Nin muttered. "I guess I'll have to give you my name as well, huh? Well, might as well call me Menma."

"So the rumours that you're from the Leaf are true. Just how old are you?" Jiraiya asked quietly.

"I'm not sure, seventeen maybe eighteen." Menma shrugged.

"Then you'd have graduated with us, or Team Guy's group. Why don't we know who you are and why would you chose to become a missing-nin?" Sakura demanded.

"Lots of genin go missing. They're just not as noticed since they're genin. There was even group called the Ninja Dropouts. They were a bunch of ninja that hadn't even graduated. I on the other hand, had no reason to stay. I don't have a family, my team and I didn't get along. My sensei was never around and after the whole Orochimaru incident I left in the confusion. No one even noticed." Menma shrugged. He was actually telling the truth, the way he saw it so it wasn't like he was lying.

"I see. Is this your proposal to be reinstated?" Jiraiya asked with a confused frown. Could they even do that? He knew that sometimes ninja were sent undercover and had to slash their headbands because of it. They had to publically denounce their village in some way and usually the village had a planned attack to achieve just that, a few faked bodies and an overly large outcry for justice was enough. So technically they could be reinstated once the mission was completed.

This, however was not a mission. This was some kid who hadn't been loyal enough to the village to stay when all else had failed, but listening to his casual explanation, perhaps it had been the village that had failed him.

"Can I be reinstated?" Menma raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Have you ever committed any crimes against the Leaf, given away Village secrets, killed any Leaf Shinobi?" Tsunade asked. "And don't bother lying to me. I still plan on getting you and your actions as the Kage looked into."

"No, no, no. I focused mostly on training, learning what I could and mastering that which I had learned. I went on missions purely for money and to learn, as well as for the reputation." Menma shrugged.

"Well then I don't see why you can't be temporarily instated once again. However, should you do anything and should our reports come up with anything. I'll kill you myself. Kage or not boy. _I'm_ the Hokage and that isn't just a silly nickname." Tsunade threatened with narrowed eyes. "As for your earlier suggestion, that will be discussed between Jiraiya and myself. For the time being if you're planning on staying you'll be in the Uchiha compound where you're away from prying eyes and under the watchful ones of Sasuke."

"I accept your temporary orders, _Lady Hokage_." Menma said with a hint of snide sarcasm.

There was a humph and a drawer was opened and a shiny new Leaf headband was carelessly tossed at him. Kakashi didn't say it but he saw the distaste the headband was given. He knew how to read people in masks. He wore one every day. Menma treated his slashed headband far more preciously than he did the new one. In fact that slashed head band appeared to be something he cared very much for even if it was only on a subconscious level and that didn't fit with his story. Kakashi was going to be watching him, very closely.

* * *

Everything was going according to plan. Yes, even training Konohamaru had been all a part of the plan. He'd needed the 'out' the chunin exams would provide. Without them, escaping and faking his death would've been so much harder. Now he was in the Leaf, exactly where he wanted to be. They were following his tune like dancing puppets and he didn't even really have to do all that much work. It was absolutely brilliant.

"I guess I should get going, for now. I'll be around the village should you need me. Don't worry I know where the Uchiha compound is, I don't need anyone to hold my hand. See you later Konohamaru." Menma waved before picking up his discarded items and simply stepping backwards and into the shadows, disappearing from the room entirely.

He walked out of the shadow of the Hokage tower, no real destination in mind. Perhaps he'd go sit on top of the Hokage monument. That was always a nice place to be. Shadows were all connected, one big mass of space that if used correctly, such as the Nara clan did, then one could be anywhere they wanted so long as there were shadows and there always was. There was no distinction among shadows, they didn't care if you were a Jinchuriki or a normal kid. They were impartial to everything.

He hadn't been lying when he'd said he needed the Leaf when it came to the Akatsuki and Gaara. He needed the cover from the Akatsuki. If they learned he was still alive they wouldn't try to kill him through indirect means and puppets again. No, they'd try to kill him directly and while one or maybe two Akatsuki members weren't much of a problem, more than that was. Pein wouldn't be stupid enough to send only a team after him, he'd send more, more than Menma could truthfully handle.

Yes, everything was just the way he wanted it. He was even placed with the one person he hated most. Sasuke Uchiha. He'd destroy the bastard even if it was the last thing he did.

* * *

"Konohamaru, you can leave now. It's getting late and your mother has already been informed of your conscious state." Tsunade sighed. Konohamaru nodded before walking out the door.

He had wanted to stay but he knew the tone that the Hokage was using meant it was time for him to scat.

"So, what are we going to do with him?" Jiraiya asked.

"I for one want to shove him in a room with Ibiki and leave it at that." Sasuke grumbled.

"You're only saying that because you don't like him." Kakashi pointed out.

Tsunade stared at her hands, deep in thought. "Jiraiya I know you've been thinking everything through and will already have some sort of idea or plan of action, so out with it." she eventually said, her gaze moving up to the other sannin.

"Well, you know that saying, keep your friends close but your enemies closer. I think we should shove him on Team 7 so long as he's willing to co-operate. I don't think we really have a choice in this. He was pretty sound in his logic as well as the fact that this is an opportunity we can't afford to throw away. We could use his time here to learn as much as we can about him." Jiraiya explained, his expression as serious as it got.

"What?! I don't want him on our team." Sasuke snapped.

"You don't get a choice. Your team is the one best equipped to handle this. Your naturally suspicious nature will mean that he'll be expecting you to be scrutinising his every move so he won't be overly concerned when you're watching his every move. Sakura is pretty good at acting and gaining people's trust so perhaps your overly suspicious nature will drive Menma to confide in Sakura. As for Kakashi he's the top jonin in the Village. He'll be able to handle anything the kid can throw at you guys." Jiraiya all but snapped back, but not quite as viciously as Sasuke had.

Sasuke sneered but turned his head away, his way of giving in.

"Milady, wouldn't it be smart to use the information he's already given us to find out who he is?" Sakura suggested calmly.

"Yes, I was just thinking about that. Shizune! Get in here." Tsunade barked. The black haired apprentice hurried into the room, clipboard in hand and pen poised at the ready.

"Send out the summoning eagle. We're going to be having a meeting."

"Would that be the sensei summons, the jonin summons, the squad summons . . ." Shizune began but a bark from Tsunade cut her off, "Everyone!"

"Yes mam." Shizune squeaked before hurrying from the room.

"Isn't that a bit conspicuous. Menma is still in the village. I think he'd notice if everyone suddenly darted to the meeting room." Kakashi seat dropped.

"He'd be a fool to think I wouldn't investigate him." Tsunade replied darkly, turning to face the dark windows.

Outside, the distant cry of the eagle called all Shinobi in the village to its heart, the Hokage Tower.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for all the review in the last chapter. It's quite intimidating to think about all the people reading this. It's like OMG I can't let them down, but *GASP* what if I do? XD**

**And I did say that updates would be irregular, so don't get used to this every few days thing. Right now I'm going on the average number of pages the chapter ends up being so it's not like I'm writing new chapters for any specific reason. It's more like one long extended chapter.**

**Chapter 6**

Jiraiya stood on the Hokage's right while Team 7 stood on her left. Standing slight behind Tsunade was Shizune and that blasted pig Tonton. All the Shinobi of Konoha that were not currently on missions stood before them, silently waiting to hear the words of their Hokage. They had gathered in the underground rooms, under the Hokage Tower and there wasn't enough space to gather above the ground without being overheard by spies or enemies.

Danzo stood with the other two older Shinobi council members, watching silently. He had no idea what this meeting was about and he did not like that one bit. His single visible eye travelled over the gathered Shinobi, taking in the segregation in the ranks. Genin towards the back, chunin after them, then Special Jonin, Jonin and ANBU. The ANBU themselves were organised into their own little groups but that was irrelevant.

The rest of the Konoha 11 were in front of the ANBU and Danzo wondered about that. He also noticed an unsure looking Team Ebisu, with a slightly less unsure looking Konohamaru Sarutobi standing near the front as well, next to the Konoha 11 that were not with the Hokage.

Danzo's jaw tightened in suppressed anger when he thought about Team 7's position. That was not a position for a mere Shinobi squad. They should be behind the ANBU, not in front of the Shinobi themselves but Danzo had steadily been losing more and more power and he wasn't sure how.

Not every Shinobi was in this room. The Shinobi on patrol would be informed of the meeting's contents when their shifts were changed. They couldn't leave the village unprotected even if it was only for a few announcements.

"I'm not in the mood for clever words and fancy speeches so I'll get right to the point." Tsunade began, "First order of business, we have received word that the Akatsuki will be making their move soon so be alert." The tension in the room at this announcement was almost staggering.

"Second order of business, the Genin from Team Ebisu have all been promoted to chunin. Congratulations." There wasn't applause. Shinobi didn't clap. There were however looks of acknowledgement. There hadn't been a chunin promotion in a few years.

"Third order of business, Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yuhi, Anko, Jiraiya, Neji Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara, Tenzo, Tenten, Genma Shiranui and Yugao Uzuki will be undertaking genin teams. No arguments, the quicker you get them to chunin the quicker you can get rid of them, however that doesn't mean you shortcut their training is that understood?!"

There were several individual Hai's in the crowd and none of them sounded particularly happy. In face some of them (And two of them were currently in ANBU) were wondering why the hell they'd been chosen in the first place.

"Fourth order of business. Konohamaru Sarutobi will be going through an ANBU level assessment. So Inoichi and Shikaku, supervised by Ibiki, that will be your job. I want a full report on my desk in three days' time." Konohamaru gulped. An ANBU assessment? He must have really pissed her off.

"What the hell did you do this time Konohamaru?" Ebisu whispered but it was so quiet everyone probably heard him.

"What did he do? Oh I'll tell you what the brat did. Not only did he run off to train with a S-rank ninja listed in every Bingo book from here to Timbuktu, but he also lied about how much he knew, lied about his skill level, omitted valuable information as well as used a jutsu in the Hokage's office that could have potentially ended my life. Shall I continue Konohamaru?" Tsunade asked in a deathly calm tone that had the now chunin Shinobi quickly shaking his head. He didn't even dare argue against her.

"That being said, an ANBU assessment doesn't seem so bad now does it Konohamaru?" she asked sweetly and the chunin frantically shook his head once again. "Yes, Lady Tsunade, not so bad at all."

"Fifth order of business, would every Shinobi that took on a genin team at some point in their career and had one of those genin either disappear or die please step forward while the rest of you step back." Tsunade continued, addressing the rest of the Shinobi gathered once again.

Several Shinobi stepped forward, some ANBU but most not. Kakashi moved forward as well, all eyes on him as they all knew very well which genin he'd lost. Some even blamed him for it.

"I want every one of you to compile a detailed report of the genin that was killed or went missing. I want everything from their age to their favourite colour. Hatake, your report won't be needed. I already have one." Tsunade ordered while Kakashi sagged in relief.

"Lastly, the vacant spot on Team 7 has been filled. However that doesn't mean I no longer have a way to punish misbehaving Shinobi. Any Shinobi that misbehaves will be placed together on a team with Konohamaru."

"I knew it!" Kakashi yelled accusingly, looking at the Hokage with clear puppy like betrayal in his visible eye.

"Oh come on Kakashi. You seriously didn't think with all your anti-social qualities I put members on your team to learn something? Get real." Tsunade scoffed. While a slight buzz had started in the large room, everyone wondering who was the poor soul who'd been punished for life on Team 7. There were hurriedly whispered enquires as to if anyone knew who it was that had been suckered into such a placement but it appeared that no one actually knew.

"The genin team placement will begin now, so all those mentioned before as well as the genin with their current sensei will stay behind and the rest of you may return to whatever it was you were doing." The room emptied rapidly after that, leaving behind all those that had been told to stay.

"Danzo." Tsunade called after the retreating Shinobi. He turned back to her in interest. She hadn't approached him in months and whenever she did he never liked what she had to say.

He waited where he was as the Hokage approached him. "I know the Foundation is still around and I want a list of all its participants. I'm not going to shut it down, but I need to borrow a member or two. While I don't agree with your training methods, I won't deny the effectiveness of your ROOT ANBU." Tsunade began while Jiraiya who had followed her looked like he wanted to choke.

"You wish to borrow a member or two eh? Well tell me what you want done and I won't even have to get the list. I can simply give you the Shinobi." Danzo replied with a crooked smile.

"Fine, young, around the same age as the Konoha 11. Also skilled in all areas but specialising in gathering information." Tsunade snapped back.

"Well there is one member that comes to mind with those vague specifications, Princess Tsunade. However, I want something in return." Danzo's smile widened.

"What?"

"I want to know more about this Shinobi who'll be placed on Team 7. You wouldn't put just anyone and they wouldn't just accept anyone either. Is it perhaps that you've found Uzumaki?"

"No Danzo. It isn't Naruto. It is in fact it'll be the Foundation member you let me use." Tsunade sighed.

"This doesn't have anything to do with the reports on missing or killed genin does it?" Danzo pressed.

"Yes, in fact it does. Now can I have the Foundation member or not?" Tsunade growled, beginning to lose her patience with the man.

"Sure you can have him. After all you've been very co-operative. You've also already announced his presence so I suppose I have to now don't I. I will send him along under the name of Sai." Danzo inclined his head slightly, "If that is all Princess Tsunade an old man needs his rest."

"A Foundation member? On Team 7?" Jiraiya asked, watching Danzo walk away with distaste.

"Not a chance in hell. I just told him that. No, 'Sai' will be given another task." Tsunade muttered under her breath, "Menma is the one that will be on Team 7. Sai will be finding out who of the Shinobi who went to the Academy as well as were trained under ROOT were orphans and disappeared. I don't doubt Menma when he said he had no family. However I'm not taking his word for it on his age and when he left. That is why I asked for everyone who's lost a genin to give in a report. He could potentially be anyone of them. Sai will also be acting as a 'friend' for Menma, just as Sakura will be." Tsunade explained to her fellow teammate.

"I see. So you're using the sneaky method of getting information but I don't see how using an operative of _Danzo's_ is going to mean a friend for Menma." Jiraiya summed up earning a glare from Tsunade.

"His difficulty in making friends, rather his inability to do so will be the perfect cover. Menma won't suspect it because the ROOT operatives are so transparent." Tsunade explained.

"That makes sense in a strangely illogical way. I'll congratulate you if it works. By the way, are we going to ask Menma about that interesting jutsu he used at the chunin exams and in the Hokage office?" Jiraiya mused.

"You're just dying to know where he learnt it. I suppose we can get Kakashi to ask him. Since we're treating him as a Konoha Shinobi for the time being we can't very well torture him for the information. For now we'll just have to trust that he'll tell us." Tsunade sighed.

In front of them the genin were being divided into new teams, with their original sensei discussing things over with their soon to be sensei. Jiraiya sighed before muttering that he should head over there as he was supposed to help out. It was some unspoken rule that Jiraiya didn't actually take on genin teams, just help out with the training every now and then which was completely fine by everyone.

Neji seemed to be pressing for Hanabi on his team and really who could blame the Hyuga. It was time to fix the rather large mistake Tsunade had made in the training of her Shinobi. All of them were going to be put on missions now, and not mostly the original four teams. Konohamaru had said her Shinobi were getting lazy and she sure as hell was going to change that.

The majority of the new genin sensei came from the original four teams so that meant they'd be back on D-rank missions which left a large gap in a need for Shinobi to do the higher ranked missions, forcing other Shinobi to take them and once again falling into the rhythm from before Orochimaru's invasion. It would be tight for the first little while but in the long run it would be worth it.

* * *

Menma's awareness snapped to alert when he felt someone approaching his spot on the Fourth Hokage's hair. He kept his eyes closed and his breathing even, waiting to find out who it was that had found him.

"I thought you knew where the Uchiha compound was?"

Sasuke Uchiha.

"I do. However I liked it right here." Menma replied allowing a leg to dangle off the edge of the spike of hair he was lying on.

"Some would consider that disrespectful." Sasuke drawled.

"I don't. I see it as looking at things from their point of view, getting to know Konoha as they did." Menma opened his eyes to stare at the afore mentioned Village, taking in the sight in one slow sweep of his gaze. It was early morning yet the streets were already beginning to liven up.

He got a grunt in reply as Sasuke turned his gaze to the village once more as well. "We've been given the orders to wait in the village until the Akatsuki try to attack Gaara. Kakashi wants to work on our teamwork." Sasuke muttered but it was loud enough for Menma to hear him.

"Sounds like fun. I'm not really a teamwork kind of guy though. Figured I should warn you up front."

"With Kakashi as team leader you don't have a choice. Either you get with the program or you'll get left behind." Sasuke warned.

"Perhaps, but I'm more interested to know what you'll do when I tell you that it's a certain Itachi Uchiha camped on Konoha's doorstep." Menma replied getting to his feet and jumping over to where Sasuke was standing.

He could see the tension reverberating throughout Sasuke's body but his expression remained cool. "My orders are to remain in the village." Sasuke drawled in that calm controlled tone.

"Huh, I never thought I'd be hearing that from an Uchiha. I thought you lot were all about arrogant superiority."

Menma never got a reply. Sasuke just walked away, moving towards the Village below them. Menma yawed before following. This seemed like it was going to be harder than he had first thought. Wasn't Sasuke's whole thing all about revenge?

A quick glance at Sasuke's neck told him that the cursed seal was still there, restrained by the mediocre seal Kakashi had put on him. He couldn't study the seal any further because Sasuke jumped onto a roof and started to jump from one rooftop to the next, a destination not really clear from the path they were taking.

Sasuke didn't say a word as they travelled to wherever it was that Kakashi, and probably Sakura as well, were. Menma frowned at that. Sasuke hadn't really been much of the chatty type but he'd never been this rigid either. What the hell? This was seriously messing with his plans.

Oh well, he'd work with what he had for now and right now it was a training session with the old team. Goody.

Kakashi never had been around enough to train them in much of anything other than teamwork and even then he'd done it so half assed that Sasuke and himself had done nothing but right. Then when it came time to where he had really needed the other Shinobi's help, he'd pawned him off to the first moron that was too self-righteous and arrogant to refuse. He'd been forced to find his own sensei who'd really done nothing more than clean him out financially and throw him off the cliff. He didn't count the Rasengan because technically he couldn't use that technique without being found out so he no longer considered it usable.

However that didn't mean he didn't perfect it to the point where he could mix elemental ninjutsu into his attacks and many other things. He'd taken the Rasengan as far as he could, even if it was an unusable jutsu, it was his, the Fourth Hokage's jutsu. That was the man he aimed to surpass and he just wasn't there yet.

Sure he could use the Fourth's jutsus but that didn't make him better than the Hokage. No, that just made him a copycat, just like Kakashi. He needed to be _more_.

But all that came after he took care of Sasuke. He aimed to destroy the Uchiha and he never went back on his word.

Sasuke jumped down and landed in the middle of a familiar looking field. Training ground 7. What a surprise. Honestly that Hatake really needed some creativity, or at least some variation.

A brief glance at the three wooden stumps was all it took for him to remember one of the reasons he hated Sasuke. He was a show-off, always trying to be better than everyone else. Even Kakashi had been a useless teacher in that lesson. He done nothing but read his stupid book.

Why couldn't Sasuke have just seen how much Menma had looked up to him, had wanted him to acknowledge Menma as a Shinobi worth fighting? Too late now.

Sasuke's eyes were on him, the gaze intense and boring, yet those eyes were as black as pitch. And probably just as flat. Had they always been so emotionless?

Menma felt like sticking his tongue out at the Uchiha but he couldn't, not with the mask on.

"Glad you two could make it." Kakashi's voice cut through the tension that had been steadily growing and semi dispelled it. "The sooner we get started the sooner we can be out of each other's hair."

"Might I suggest we work on teaching me how Naruto used to fight? As I understand it, Naruto had an encounter with Itachi Uchiha and his partner so they would have reported any fighting styles to the other Akatsuki members. It would be helpful to me and our cover for me to know how he fought." Menma asked as well as explained.

There was silence when he finished and at first he thought they were going to refuse and give some excuse as to why they couldn't but then Kakashi spoke, "I'll make a deal with you, I'll teach you how Naruto fought and the formations we used back when he was on the team if you tell me about the jutsu you used at the chunin exams, the one with the three pronged kunai."

A sneaky move, but not one that couldn't be answered safely.

"Well the Flying Thunder God technique is a pretty widely known technique, especially in Iwa, but the snag comes in when one actually wants to try and imitate it. See the Sealing Arts is something that's slowly dying away and with the Uzumaki clan having been destroyed a lot of those records were lost. Minato Namikaze had an advantage in being married to one of the last surviving members of the Uzumaki clan and between her knowledge on seals and his natural genius he was able to use many of the Sealing Art Jutsus as well as make up his own. All this is common knowledge if you know where to look." Menma began to explain. He wondered if Sasuke and Sakura would be sharp enough to pick up on the fact that he'd said the Fourth was married to an Uzumaki. Would they realise the relation? "Anyways what isn't so widely known, or rather realised is that the Fourth carelessly allowed a copy of his jutsu to be distributed to every jonin level Shinobi and higher in the elemental nations."

Menma swung the bag from his back and began to search through it before pulling out a rather old looking book. "This is an older version of the Bingo book." Menma explained flipping it open and thumbing through the pages until he found the full page photo of the mischievous blonde Hokage. He held the book open to Kakashi and pointed at the Kunai the Fourth was displaying in the photo.

Sure enough, with a finger looped through the circle on the handle and the seal on the handle fully displayed, the Fourth Hokage truly had given the Shinobi world the grounding for one of his greatest jutsus.

"However, this only shows one part of the seal. I had to do a lot of research to figure out the rest of it and even then it's not complete. Just knowing the seal isn't enough." Menma continued, strangely enough carefully placing the aged Bingo book back into his bag and swinging that back onto his back.

"This jutsu took me the longest to perfect and master. I had no teacher to tell me how and I had no idea what the jutsu even was. I didn't know how it was supposed to work. All I had were the stories and the picture as well as the vague understanding that it allowed the Fourth to transverse large distances in nothing more than a nanosecond."

"So you built your entire jutsu on the rumours from other Shinobi villages and a picture?" Kakashi said incredulously.

"Jip. Since I didn't know all its capabilities I was able to modify the seal into something that's more of my own than the Fourth's. I gave Konohamaru one of the Kunai so that if he ever needed me all he'd have to do was activate the seal on the handle with chakra. Whenever he does that it's like a buzz in my mind so I know instantly that I need to go to wherever the buzz is coming from. Gaara has one too."

"Not even I know how that jutsu worked and I was the man's student." Kakashi whined.

"Yeah, yeah. You didn't ask me to teach it to you, you asked me to explain how I knew it. Now time for you to teach me, Naruto style." Menma replied waving a hand impatiently.

Kakashi sighed but began by saying "Naruto's fighting style, in a word was wild." He had made a deal after all so all his plans about teamwork were flying off into the clouds. Oh well, they'd just have to learn to work together, around Menma's deals and tricks. Kakashi could just sense a lot of those coming.

The day was spent, teaching Menma come of Naruto's more zealous sayings and actions, his preaching's on ramen, his obsession with dating Sakura and his intense desire to never give up, no matter what because he just never went back on his word. It was a painful process, one that only grew more heart wrenching with every remembered quote or action. Sasuke stopped participating by lunch time altogether, prompting Kakashi to call if for the day, secretly glad for the Uchiha's actions this time.

Menma on the other hand was enjoying the obvious pain his request had created in Team 7. He especially loved the look of distressed pride in Sasuke's eyes as his values interfered with his emotions. Every mention of Naruto's like of Sakura or his desire to date her only made the pink haired kunoichi sag a little more in defeat. Kakashi himself seemed subdued and unusually complacent, a sign that he wasn't as heartless as he'd have everyone believe.

However, he couldn't help but be surprised at the level of detail they were able to provide him with. After all there was nothing you could teach the creator. Every time that stated a habit of his that he used to have while fighting it only served to confuse him. Yet, he knew that when one thought about it often enough, one could recall details they hadn't even known they'd noticed in the first place so he wasn't too impressed by it.

It had taken him a long time to iron out those bad habits he'd had while fighting when he was younger, forcing himself to fight using a style completely unlike that which he was most comfortable with. He now knew so many different styles of fighting he'd lost track of which move came from which style. He just mashed it all together to form something useful, whatever he needed in that moment. Now, he was forcing himself to conform to those atrocious habits once again and he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy every moment of it. He was almost disgusted with how easy it had been to fall back into that rhythm of fighting and made a mental note to avoid asking Kakashi to train him in the ways of Naruto, even if he did enjoy inflicting pain upon Team 7.

"Why don't we go get some BBQed pork. I bet some of the others are there too. I'm sure they're all dying to meet the new team member and it would be strange if we didn't introduce him soon." Sakura suggested after glancing at a stony Uchiha. Ah, so nothing had changed there. For Sakura it was still about the Uchiha.

"Sure, why not." Kakashi replied with that creepy smile of his and that was how Menma found himself wedged in a booth between a large pot plant and Sasuke Uchiha, who looked just as happy to be there as Kakashi looked to be wedge between Sasuke and Asuma.

"So, Menma right? Tell us about yourself. You know, likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams. That kind of stuff." Ino asked as Choji helped himself to some food. Can you say deja vu?

"Well, I like a lot of stuff and I dislike some stuff. I have too many hobbies to actually think of any right now and my dream is not a dream, it's a reality. I'm going to stop a certain someone from achieving their dreams because they stole mine." Menma finished with a good imitation of Kakashi's creepy smile.

"Is it just me or did that sound an awful lot like Sasuke's introduction." Sakura murmured to Kakashi from around Asuma. Kakashi shrugged and Menma didn't react since he hadn't supposed to have heard that.

"Well, that's interesting." Ino replied with a wide, fake, definitely uncomfortable smile.

"Is it? I thought it was pretty uninformative." Menma replied casually, before slurping a sip from his tea making Sasuke wince. He was careful about how he drank his tea, since he had a mask on. He found new respect for the jonin sensei as keeping your face hidden and eating at the same time took immense skill. Menma was still learning.

"So where are you from?" Hinata asked to break the tension.

"Konoha, originally. He was an ANBU training objective." Kakashi replied before Menma could. Menma was amused at how quickly this explanation was accepted by everyone. The only one that gave Kakashi a funny look, discreet but funny all the same, was Asuma. Kakashi must have signalled something to him since he didn't press, at least he probably wouldn't until they were alone.

"What do you keep hidden under the mask?" Kiba blurted.

Menma smirked before replying "If you want to see that, you'll have to remove it from my face in battle."

"I accept that most youthful challenge!" Lee yelled just as Neji huffed into the room muttering something about impatient genin.

"Not now." Asuma said loudly and to dispel the excitement that had grown around the table, an excitement only a Shinobi promised a good fight could feel.

"Is Menma a better Shinobi than Sasuke?" Shino asked tonelessly, "Why you ask, because Team 7 is a hard team to keep up with and Lady Hokage would not place someone incompetent on their team."

"Good question Shino, just how good are you?" Kiba asked while Akamaru barked from his place outside, his head sticking through the window.

"That depends. Every Shinobi had a different definition of how to categorise a Shinobi's skill level. Perhaps you should ask Kakashi. He would be able to place it in a way that everyone would be able to understand." Menma replied picking up a piece of pork and pulling the mask forward so that he could drop it into his mouth.

"I don't know yet. I'm not finished with his assessment. Our training today didn't focus on his actual abilities." Kakashi shrugged, "but if you guys are so eager to know which one is better we can always start with a series of tests, the first one being observation. What do you to say, you up for it?" Kakashi added looking at Menma and Sasuke.

"Observation?" Sasuke scoffed thinking of his obvious advantage in the Sharingan. "Sure I'll play along."

"Count me in." Menma grinned.

"Alright, close your eyes and tell me how many people are in this room, including yourselves. Then tell me what the couple in the far right corner behind the other pot plant are doing." Kakashi stated.

Menma closed his eyes and took a deep breath before lowering the seal guard he had to keep in place constantly to stop the flow of other's emotions from entering his mind. It was a part of his Jinchuriki status that allowed him to sense negative emotions and in the Shinobi world that was far more dangerous than useful, hence the seals to keep it locked away. He just hated losing to Sasuke so he'd use the ability now.

"There are twenty-seven people in this room." Menma stated confidently.

"I count twenty-seven as well, but now it's twenty-five as the couple that had been behind the pot plant have just left." Sasuke replied.

Show-off. Always have to be one better but then again, there was no way he was getting the next part right. There was a trick to it otherwise Kakashi wouldn't have asked.

"The couple that just left had been fighting. He's a Shinobi and she's a civilian. He has to go on a mission but she wants him to stay home because she had a bad feeling about this one." Menma replied.

"How the hell did you get all that?" Choji asked after swallowing some rice.

"Wait, let's see what Sasuke has to say." Ino interrupted before Menma could answer.

"They appeared to be having a normal meal on a normal day having an ordinary conversation."

"Sorry Sasuke, Menma's right. However I'm not sure about those finer details." Kakashi replied.

"See underneath the underneath ne Sasuke." Menma teased once again feeling the urge to stick out his tongue. "Anyways, I was correct in my details. I have the ability to sense other's emotions. No matter how much one hides it on one's face, one cannot hide their emotions when it's on the inside. By being able to sense emotions I can more or less guess as to what that person is thinking but it's difficult to actually get it right. For instance someone can be extremely angry. I'll know that they're in an inapproachable mood but not why." Menma explained, getting all the Shinobi seated there undivided attention. Now if all those stares weren't intimating . . .

"It's a nuisance really. I have to block it most of the time. It's good for gathering information but it's not the best because of its large scale of errors to factor in. Like right now, Sasuke is feeling jealousy but there's also something else, something that's blurring along the surfaces and I can't pick it out." Menma shrugged. He couldn't pick it out because it was probably a positive emotion. He couldn't sense those at all, just the negative ones but he wasn't about to tell them that.

The fox could be sadistically cruel when he wanted to be. He'd emphasised this little bombshell to a point where Menma, if he left this sensory ability unchecked, would have difficulty finding where others' emotions stopped and his began. He'd begin to feel their pain as his pain and that was simply too distracting. Add to their pain, which he wouldn't be able to tell was theirs would be his pain at feeling all these confusing emotions and it would just end in one confusing mess.

Something tickled on the edges of his awareness but he ignored it. It was probably a Shinobi. Shinobi tended to have heavier, more intense negative emotions, compared to civilians. It made sense really, with all the stuff higher ranking Shinobi did. However civilians were not to be out done, they had their fair share of suffering too.

Nin raised his hands to begin the hand signs that would seal this ability up again. He had to be careful because it was actually a rather complex set of seals. He could end up sealing more than just the ability and that wouldn't be funny at all. Not many Shinobi knew the Sealing Arts after all, so finding someone to undo the complex seal would be troublesome.

"Wait, can you really tell what Sasuke is feeling, like even right now?" Ino asked in a hurried tone, as though she couldn't quite believe it.

"Yeeeeees?" Menma replied slowly, drawing out the word and also asking what she was getting at just by the tone in which he said the word. His hands stilled as he waited, forgetting to complete the seal.

He couldn't tell what she was feeling so she was probably eyebrow full of excitement, if her face was anything to judge by. This opportunity truly fascinated her. What was the big deal about Sasuke Uchiha? Then again, he had always been a rather reserved kind of guy so this had its amusing aspects.

"So how does it work?" Ino asked.

"Say something, anything, and I'll tell you how he responds." Menma replied with a shrug.

A spike of anger from directly next to him was laced with fear and maybe a taste of panic too. Sasuke really didn't like what this implied for him. He didn't say anything and the expression on his face remained impassive but Menma could sense everything he was hiding from the rest of them.

There was another emotion tickling in with the rest, one that Menma couldn't sense, just knew that it was there. It was probably the hope that Menma was bluffing.

"I vote Menma faces the plant. That way we'll know he's not just really good at reading body language." Shikamaru suggested, snagging a dumpling and eating it, ignoring Choji's glare.

"Good idea." Asuma grinned, just as interested in the display as the students were, well they weren't really students anymore now were they?

"I'll do you one better. I'll just go sit next to Neji." Menma grinned before disappearing from his squishy seat and appearing right next to a surprised Neji. "Alright, start." Menma added, looking directly at Ino who was now sitting in front of him.

"Uhm, how does Sasuke feel about the colour blue?"

Did it actually have to be something he liked? It was harder to differentiate the positive reactions because he was guessing those. Oh well, vague it was then. "He likes it. Next."

"How does he feel about pink?"

"Detests it. Next."

"How does he feel about girls?"

At this question Menma paused to actually get a feel of Sasuke's emotions, letting the Uchiha alone wash over him since there were so many people around him, all of them pressing negative responses into his brain. Focusing on Sasuke told him that the other was mildly embarrassed by the question but otherwise not really reacting at all. That was interesting.

"How does Sasuke feel about boys?" Menma asked carefully. His response was a spike of anger and definitely irritation but that was all. Menma's question was receiving some odd looks all of which he ignored. "How do you feel about relationships in general?"

Nothing. Not even an emotion he couldn't pick out. "Huh. That's interesting." Menma grinned but he didn't answer Ino's question and judging from the almost expectant tension around the table she wasn't the only one that was waiting for an answer.

"Next question." Menma announced instead, getting suspicious surprise from Sasuke.

"What?! But you didn't answer the last one." Ino protested.

"I never said I'd answer all of them. It's none of your business. Clearly the Uchiha doesn't want certain things to be known so it's not my place to say it. Now next question." Menma replied in a tone that was bordering on icy.

"Fine. Does Sasuke think I'm pretty?" Ino huffed out childishly. All Menma got was irritation. "He's only annoyed. Enough so that I can't pick up anything else. Next."

"Does Sasuke think he's above everyone else?" Kiba interrupted.

Menma pulled his eyebrows together at this response. Regret, so much regret. Why would he regret something like that? It wasn't a question that would usually lead to regret unless he was actually thinking about something else, something that the question had reminded him of.

"No." Menma found himself whispering very quietly. "He doesn't. The question itself . . ." pains him. He didn't add that out loud. It wasn't his to say. "No more questions. His life is his life."

"I have a question." Sasuke said quietly.

Menma assessed his emotions before agreeing to it. He appeared to be reasonable enough. Not even all that angry with the prying. Perhaps Menma's lack of information had actually been helpful for him. "What is Kakashi feeling right now?"

Kakashi huh? Staring down at the table Menma focused on the jonin who seemed to have some sort of pent up tension vibrating throughout his body. Under that was panicked impatience with a slight hint of fear. Were these all linked to Menma?

"He's paranoid." Menma muttered, giving the safest answer possible.

Another emotion flooded through Kakashi but Menma couldn't identify it so it was probably amusement.

"Paranoid? Are you sure you got that right?" Asuma asked looking at Kakashi as though seeing him for the first time.

"More or less." Kakashi shrugged.

"Now that we're all done with prying into other's lives." Menma stated, having no intention of finishing that sentence. He once again placed his hands together to form a seal but that earlier tickle turned into a full on assault on his senses as the restaurant door opened. He blinked as he tried to push the sensations away. This pain . . . . . it was unreal.

He had expected something like this from Sasuke and maybe even Kakashi but not whoever this other Shinobi was.

"May I try something?" Shino asked suddenly and Menma nodded, perhaps this would save him from that ninja's emotions that were gradually sweeping through the entire place, taking over all the other insignificant by comparison emotions. This person was someone who wasn't just suffering, they were in agony. Silent excruciating daily horrors. How were they still functioning?

"Naruto."

The effect was instant and deadly. Menma made a choked sound before his body tensed up. It didn't stay that way for long. He slumped forward, his head hitting the table with a loud thunk. "Stop." He managed to gasp out but it was said far too quietly to be adequately heard. Anguish. Too much misery.

His breathing started to come in short sharp gasps as his heart speed. He couldn't take it. He had to find a way out.

Moving a hand to the edge of the table he managed to pull his body back into an upright position. His head was spinning, his ears were ringing. He couldn't really see anything, couldn't really hear anything either. He was trapped within his own mind, trapped within a word of other's pain. So much insufferable torment.

His stomach rolled as the Shinobi from earlier came closer, bringing his own pain with him and strangely enough doubling the already intolerable amount at the table. Damn you Shino. A hand was placed on his forehead as a face swam into view. Brown eyes, concerned yet dead brown eyes were the clearest part of the face in front of him. However with the physical contact came the intensifying of that owner's pain. Regret, a regret so sharp is could cut. Like a barrage of kunai that just never ended. Loneliness, self-hatred, despair. All of these were so intense it was hard to imagine that they came from one person alone.

Menma leaned over to the side and fumbled around before finally managing to yank down his mask and heave the contents of his stomach onto the floor. Now not only was there the pain caused by Naruto, this other Shinobi's weird yet intense constant pain, the pain caused by his presence, but now there was concern. _Concern for Menma_.

He couldn't take it anymore. He tried to get to his feet but he was so weak. It wasn't fair. With a feeble growl of anger he pulled out a kunai and jammed it into his leg, the physical pain shooting through his mind and clearing it for a moment. A moment was all he needed. He pulled himself to his feet using the pain in his leg as an anchor. He stumbled, trying to find a way out, a way to simply be _away_.

But that other Shinobi reached out to steady him as he stumbled. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, no longer able to stay conscious. The jarring thud of his knees hitting the floor made sure that he stayed wide awake, the wound in his leg searing in an excruciating ecstasy.

He had to seal that blasted ability. The ringing was getting louder, making him want to scream and scream till all he could hear was absolute nothingness. Gripping the kunai in one hand he lowered his fingers until he was cutting into his hand with the sharp blade, blood running down the flashing silver to drip onto the floor. Slowly and unsteadily he tried to draw out the seal with the kunai and his own blood but a shudder ripping through his body caused him to smear the seal beyond correction. No . . . . He needed relief.

Just as he was about to fall into blissful unawareness, a new Shinobi grabbed him and pulled him into a tight embrace. One that was strangely unconnected by any emotions at all. Who had such perfect control over what they felt? Whoever it was it was bliss. He just wanted to get sucked up in that feeling of oblivion, that feeling of almost being numb. A void of safety.

"Hehehe, Shadow clone." Menma giggled, feeling absolutely delirious as he clung to the Shinobi who'd had enough sense to see what was happening and do something about it. Looking up he saw a shock of silver hair.

"Sensei . . ." a word uttered entirely without thought, entirely without consciousness as Menma's eyes closed as his mind shut down. His tone had been a pathetically pleading one. The tone of a child reaching out.

* * *

Kakashi's clone was forced to support all of Menma's weight as he suddenly dropped like a stone. "All of you need to get a hold of yourselves, right now." Kakashi barked, sending his clone to the hospital. Menma's blood had smeared all down Kakashi's clone's front as he'd caught the falling Shinobi. His nose had started bleeding around the same time as Iruka had checked his temperature.

Menma probably didn't even know that his nose was bleeding in the first place.

"Shino, what the hell were you thinking?" Tenten demanded.

"I was testing a theory. It was my hypothesis that he might have been guessing as he showed no outward changed nor internal. His chakra remained the same and so did his expression. I was merely wondering if a stronger reaction from us would cause a stronger reaction within him and prove that something truly was happening." Shino replied tonelessly but they could still tell that he was troubled.

"His face." Hinata murmured her eyebrows pulling together in concern. "Did you see his face?"

"It was completely burned on the lower half, a pattern of burns often associated with fire style screw up jutsus." Sasuke responded stoically.

"Think he's a fire style user?" Kakashi mused.

"I don't know what to think." Sasuke sighed.

"Either way, all of us need to get a hold of ourselves and stop this feeling sorry for ourselves. We hurt a comrade today and that is unacceptable." Kakashi's tone was one that he only got when talking about teamwork and one he got when he was being perfectly serious. His words were harsh but no one protested them.

"Did I miss something?" Iruka asked with a slight frown.

"Team 7's new teammate has the rather interesting ability to sense emotions, rather strongly apparently. Tell me Iruka-sensei, did you have a bad day?" Neji asked thoughtfully.

"Uhm, not really why?" Iruka replied, his tone conveying his confusion.

"He noticed immediately when you'd entered even though he wasn't facing the door and every time you touched him he reacted badly." Neji clarified making Iruka wince.

"Well it wasn't really my intention." Iruka muttered.

Everyone there already knew why Menma had reacted to Iruka that way. It was as though the chunin sensei had died when Naruto left. He was no longer his bubbly easy going self. Instead he was pretending, pretending to be alright but he wasn't really. Every time anyone of them saw their former sensei a sense of loss would over whelm them as well as sympathetic helplessness. No one knew how to help Iruka because no one knew exactly what was wrong with him. Anytime someone brought up Naruto he'd clam up like Sasuke and that was that.

Kakashi saw that Hinata was staring in a sort of horrified trance at the smeared blood seal on the floor. Kakashi managed to pull himself out of his wedged seat in order to go over to the attempted seal and study it. He knew a little about seals, not much but enough to know that whatever he'd been attempting to do, he'd been trying to do it the entire visit yet had been interrupted each time. He also knew that it was a highly complex seal but it was too damaged for him to understand what it's function was.

Using a small water jutsu he washed away the bright shiny red blood. A glance at Hinata told him that she was probably still lost in her own distressed thoughts. Kakashi mentally sighed and left her to it. It wasn't like there was anything he could say to cheer her up anyways. It just wasn't his thing.

* * *

"Stop, here." Menma gasped out.

"We need to get you to a hospital. You're still bleeding." The Shadow Clone Kakashi pointed out.

"No, think about it. A hospital will only make it worse. If I couldn't handle a few people in a restaurant, what do you think a building full of dying people is going to do to me?" Menma argued back weakly.

"Alright, what do you want to do then?"

"Quiet. I need to be somewhere quiet." Menma whispered with a shudder.

The shadow clone frowned. It was already pretty quiet where they were but then again Menma could be referring to something that only he could hear. With a hesitant and eventual reluctance, Kakashi decided to take Menma to his own apartment. It wasn't an ideal situation for him but he'd live with it. After all Menma was now a comrade so he had to help him. It was the Leaf Shinobi way.

The Kakashi clone was forced to carry Menma halfway there as the other Shinobi lost the ability to stand altogether. He'd been under the impression that getting the other ninja out of there would've made a difference but all Menma seemed now was exhausted. Then again he was still losing a lot of blood so that could be a contributing factor.

As the clone pushed open the door and walked in Menma sighed, breathing out in a barely audible tone, "You don't spend a lot of time at home, do you?"

"What makes you say that?" the clone asked in genuine interest. He didn't think his apartment looked neglected. There weren't dirty dished laying around and all his washing was either washed and packed away or in the hamper and waiting for a free day for Kakashi to wash them. His bed was made, not that it could be seen from where they were standing, and his cushions on his couch were all puffed up and neatly stacked.

"The apartment is sad, almost depressing . . . lonely." Menma sighed, "Despite its outward appearance."

The clone isn't sure if he should reply or not. For one thing he didn't know what to say and for another, he didn't even know if Menma was still awake. All the same he tried to place the other Shinobi on the couch but Menma was unconsciously clinging to Kakashi, fingers digging into the material of the jonin's jacket in a way that was almost scary . . . childlike. Gently Kakashi pried those fingers loose and stepped back, taking a moment to study Menma's now exposed features.

Faces of those who had come and gone flashed through his mind as he tried to match those unfamiliar features to a ninja he might had known, remembering that Menma had been an orphan. He even tried to think of all the young cheerful faces he'd seen, on the rare occasion as he walked passed, of the children at the Academy while training in the fields. However the glaring burn that marred the bottom half of his face was incredibly distracting and made it hard to actually focus on anything beyond the ugly, almost raw wound on the young Shinobi's face. It was like it was still healing but it looked older than something that would be causing him pain or did it? If it did, it wasn't something that was likely to be very pleasant. A jutsu gone wrong? Or on the wrong end of a fire style jutsu?

Was this physical deformity the reason why Menma hid his face?

Going to the bathroom the clone retrieved a first aid kit and returned to the living room. He bent down and picked up the bloody hand first and began to clean the crimson substance from long pale fingers. Fingers that were highly skilled in the ways of assassination.

Next he wiped the blood from Menma's face, grateful that the boy's nose had stopped bleeding.

Last he tended to the self-inflicted kunai wound on the other Shinobi's leg, thanking all the Gods he could think of for the fact that Menma's wound was low enough that he didn't have to remove the other Shinobi's pants. All he had to do was undo the binding on the bottom and roll the excessively baggy pants up.

Once all the wounds were cleaned and tightly wrapped, Kakashi's clone returned the first aid kit to the bathroom before settling down in the other chair to watch the kid. He didn't know if he was guarding the kid from the village or if he was guarding the kid from any attacks from any enemy ninja that just so happened to be passing by. But whatever he was doing, he was watching.

**I'm looking for a Beta for this story, if anyone knows of someone that wouldn't mind, or if anyone themselves wouldn't mind, please PM me. This is all for your better reading experience. : ) **


	7. Chapter 7

**Alrightly here's the next chapter. **

**Firstly it was Beta'ed by two awesomely awesome fellow fic lovers: TheGreatBubbaJ and Jenny-Cat-Miaow. Give em a round of applause. XD Heaven knows I need em.**

**Secondly, if you thought waiting for this update was bad, well hell you're going to hate me when you're done with this chapter. All in good time ladies and gents, all in good time. **

**My teachers at school tell me I need better time management. My reply, oh yeah I should set aside every Thursday evenings for writing my fics. What am I supposed to tell the plot bunnies? Oh sorry my beautiful fluffies, not right now, the planner says it's not your night. Thursday night comes and I'll be like alright beauties, HIT ME! They'll be evilly laughing at my stupidity I tell you. **

**My teachers wanted to send me to the psychiatrist. I'm currently still on the run. Mwhahahahaha. They'll never catch me ALIIIIIIIVE! **

**Chapter 7**

Walking through the dimly lit corridors of his mind was never a fun experience, and usually he avoided that at all costs but the fox had gone too far this time; never before had he made that particularly useless ability so powerful, so intense. Usually he had to be under the fox's influence to even feel anything that strongly. Now it was like he was a damn beacon for all the negativity in a 50m radius. No one could handle that without some sort of balancing factor. What was the fox up to?

The water no longer sloshed around his feet as he walked; it had dried up some time ago, along with his loyalties. Not a lot of changes had happened in his mindscape but he did notice that it was darker, giving the walls a rusted look rather than their odd gold. Other than that it was still a sewer maze with a trapped and belligerent demon in the centre.

"So, Fox, it's been a while." Menma stated stopping in front of the large metal gate with the small paper lock.

"**Ah, so my jailor returns. What has made you descend down from all heights to visit my humble abode, come to beg me for chakra?**" Kyuubi's deep growling reply had a bite of amusement to it, but it was mostly sarcasm and boredom, as apparent by the fact that the eyes of the beast remained closed.

"No. I want to know what the hell you're playing at." Menma snapped back, not in the mood for the blasted Fox's games today.

Only now did one large, blood red slitted eye open to look at him, a menacing glow in a room of utter darkness. Menma had long since stopped trembling at the sight of those eyes and the feel of the Kyuubi's killing intent. Now he was just annoyed with the thing that is imprisoned in his body.

"**Honestly, I thought you were getting a little too cosy. I thought I'd be so kind and remind you about that lovely little vendetta you have**. **And what better way to remind one of their hatred than a barrage of negativity?**" Kyuubi chuckled in reply.

"I have to gain their trust first you stupid fox! It's only been a day." Menma snarled, "And besides, I DON'T need your help. You're most likely trying your best to sabotage me, make me appear weak in front of them!"

His angrily snapped statement was met with laughter. "**If you truly believe that **_**boy,**_** then you're more insane than I first thought. Do you really think you can take on the Akatsuki? You think you're powerful, but sooner or later you'll find that you'll need my help. You've been playing around up till now, fooling around with the fools of your world, not really challenging yourself. However, the Akatsuki are something else entirely. Half of them aren't even human anymore, and YOU think you can take them on? I suppose being trapped within you does have its entertainment value. Besides, gaining a human's trust means you have to appear weaker than you are to gain sympathy otherwise you just appear arrogant. Have you learnt nothing at all?**"

"I don't need you to patronise me and I don't _ever_ need your help." Menma stated in a low voice, not wanting to lose his wits and begin snarling at the creature. Kyuubi's laugh of amusement reverberated through the dark corridors and echoed back to Menma, sounding as though the fox was everywhere all at once.

"**We shall see about that. The Leaf will not remain hospitable towards you forever. They are not known for their patience. And Sasuke. Yes, that one is a very interesting one. It's always that cursed clan…"**

"What is that supposed to mean!?" Menma demanded.

"**Ah, but you don't need my help**." Kyuubi reminded with clear sarcasm and a toothy grin. "**See you around boy.**" Kyuubi's last chuckle vibrated throughout the mindscape.

"Hey! You can't say something like that and just leave it at that!" Menma yelled but it was useless. The Kyuubi would not respond, no matter how much he screamed or shouted, he was just wasting his time.

With a growl of annoyance, Menma spun on his heel and stormed away from the cage. He would not let the fox get to him, he wouldn't.

* * *

Menma's eyes flew open and he jerked into a sitting position, looking around wildly.

'_Where am I? Last I remember is passing out from that rush of information…'_

Then the previous events came rushing back to him and he flopped back onto the couch with a groan.

"Sleep okay?" A book snapped shut as the words came to an end causing Menma to glance over at Kakashi. The lack of emotion emanating from him meant that it was still the clone. Most couldn't maintain the clone for much longer than for the purpose of a distraction, so the fact his teacher could was very interesting. _'Former teacher, if he could be called that,' _Menma reminded himself. Then again if neither clone nor original were doing anything strenuous it was easier to maintain.

"I guess." He finally answered before getting up again.

Despite his anger at the fox, the stupid demon had had a point. Weaknesses were often what brought people together, closer. If a person appeared to have no weaknesses, then that person was usually only regarded with negative thoughts such as envy, or being labelled as arrogant or prideful. The biggest weakness of humans was usually what brought people together and kept them there, said weakness being the need for companionship. The killer of even the most hardened assassin, causing them to slip into insanity. This weakness even affected Menma to a point, but it was something he was far too used to from an early age to be troubled by it much.

Looking at the clone Menma saw that he was being closely watched so he stuck his tongue out, enjoying the look of mild shocked surprise.

"Sensei."

It was Menma's turn to be surprised and perhaps a little confused. "What?"

"You called me that at the restaurant." The clone clarified, continuing its intense stare.

"Is that not what Sasuke and Sakura call you? I thought it was a part of your honorific, and as a part of Team 7 should I not call you sensei as well?" Menma feigned confusion when in reality he was praying that the genius accepted this explanation and did not question it further.

When Kakashi did not reply Menma looked away, as though to appear disinterested and stood to stretch his muscles. Rolling his shoulders and shaking himself somewhat, he focused his chakra so as to _finally_ perform the sealing jutsu.

The relief was almost instant and it was almost scary to think of all the emotions he'd been feeling that weren't even his. Stupid fox, making him _feel _and not _just feel, _but all that horrid stuff too.

"Thanks for taking care of me, but I'm fine now." Menma stated, looking to the door as the clone of Kakashi watched him silently. It was a little unnerving that he hadn't said a word since he'd asked the question but Menma wasn't really complaining.

"You know where to meet the others." Then the clone dispelled itself, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Menma glanced around, wondering if he should lock the door or something but the clone hadn't said anything so with a shrug he walked out the door and hopped onto the nearest roof.

Now he had one problem. Where was he supposed to meet the others?

Probably training ground 7. There really wasn't anywhere else that was obvious enough.

A jump to another rooftop sufficiently reminded him that he'd stabbed himself with a kunai and the wound still hadn't healed yet. How long had he been out for anyways? Without the fox's chakra his healing factor had slowed down immensely. He'd been forced to seal all of it away, placing a seal over the original one, much like Orochimaru had done during the chunin exams, only one better suited for the task he had in mind. He couldn't afford to get enraged during a fight and lose control. His cover would be blown in a heartbeat and the only way he'd been able to prevent that from happening was by sealing all the chakra, stopping it from reaching him at all.

As a result, he didn't have the handy healing factor, but it would keep suspicion off of him when he got injured. If he was injured while on a mission with Team 7, no one would question his recovery rate. However, should he come back from a mission in perfect health when there were injuries written in the report, certain people would begin to put the dots together.

Menma smirked when he saw that the training ground was already occupied. Before he entered the training ground he made sure that his mask was firmly in place. It was probably too late now, but that didn't stop him. He didn't want to risk any of them noticing something they shouldn't.

A loud yell greeted his ears as Lee ran straight at Menma, however this Menma was a shadow clone. Did they know it was or had the clone been stringing them along? The original Menma grinned when he watched his clone take a brutal hit, blocking it with his arm and striking back by sweeping the now unbalanced Shinobi off the floor. Lee floundered before catching himself and back flipping away.

"Hey, boss. You're finally awake. Been a while." The clone wasn't watching him and was rather watching Lee who seemed confused by the words and multiple masked ninja.

"And how long was I out for?" Menma replied, having forgotten to ask the Kakashi clone.

"Only half a day or so." Sakura answered from a shady spot in the treeline.

Menma frowned. He hadn't slept more than an hour or two at a time for ages now. That must have been one major hit he'd taken earlier. Searching the skies he saw that it was indeed closer to the end of the day and not really time for sparring.

"You may disperse." Menma stated calmly and the clone disappearing into the shadows. Memories filled his mind, informing Menma of the spar that had taken place. He had to admit, Lee was a powerful taijutsu specialist. He really could be quite deadly when he wanted to.

"That was a clone?" Lee asked, staring at a spot where the clone had disappeared into.

"Yes. My clones are just more durable than your average shadow clone." Menma shrugged.

"More durable? You've got to be joking. That clone took hits that would be making me cry." Choji stated with disbelief.

"What's the point of a clone that pops other than for a distraction? I just tweaked a few things. It takes more chakra but it's worth it." Menma replied.

Kakashi stepped over to them as well, his single eye glancing at Menma but not saying anything for the moment.  
"Why would you have shadow clones around anyways and I thought they didn't last all that long?" Choji asked.

"True. Normal shadow clones don't last very long but then again, my clones aren't normal so you can't judge them by normal standards." Menma explained.

"Your clones seem to act independently of you. It even explained your little collapse to us." Sasuke's drawl came from a shady tree as far away as he could politely be.

It seemed Team 7 was here as well as Choji and Lee. Everyone else was scattered around Konoha or probably on missions. He searched his clone's memories and mentally ticked off the ones that were now sensei, the ones that were on missions and the ones that were right here in the village. Team Asuma seemed to be in the village. Interesting.

"Did it explain that most of the pain I was feeling was coming from you? Probably not since I'd made that clone before the collapse as you put it. It would've understood what was happening but wouldn't have really known any details." Menma replied as well as mused, his face turned up to the darkening sky.

"Hn. I hardly think that I was the reason you butchered yourself. Must be a nasty one if you're still limping." Sasuke smirked back.

"Oh, not you on your own. Team 7, and that other Shinobi. I think his name was Iruka. He's vaguely familiar to me. What happened to him that he's such an emotional screw up? I could sense him coming long before he even entered the door." Menma replied earning winces from the Shinobi gathered there.

"No one really knows." Lee replied when no one else seemed willing to answer. "He was understandably distraught when he learned of our youthful friend's departure but one day he just seemed more emotionally distraught than before. He tries to hide it but we still see it."

Did Iruka realise what his words had done? Or had something just made him regress?

"Well anyways, when you guys noticed him your pain doubled. That on top of your reactions to Naruto and I was royally screwed. But I'm fine now. I generally seal the ability so it doesn't get in the way. I never did understand why it would be useful. It just gets in the way."

"I think it would be useful for gathering information." Choji offered.

"Maybe if I was someone like Ibiki. That guy is feared in almost every hidden village and I'm sure he'd find it very useful but I don't." Menma muttered, suppressing a shudder at the thought of Ibiki. "But enough talking. I thought you wanted to fight?" Menma asked turning to Lee.

"But I have been fighting you." Lee replied.

"Oh, my clones only have about a tenth of my actual ability." Menma replied with a shrug, "That was a warm up." Was it just Menma or did Lee's shoulder's slump slightly? What happened to his youthful attitude?

"Why do you wear your mask now, if we've already seen your face?" Sasuke asked before Lee and Menma could start fighting again.

"There's a reason I hide my face and it's not because of the scar but if you really want, I can show you the jutsu that caused it." Menma offered, his tone a dark seductive purr that oddly made the Uchiha's blood run cold.

"I'm game." Sasuke replied pushing away from the tree and pushing away the feeling of being drenched in ice.

Menma smirked before chuckling "But you have to show me something of yours. I can't give away all my secrets." He had wanted to add that Konohamaru had done a good job in giving away far too many already but that would be suspicious to Lee and Choji.

Sasuke regarded him coolly, in a manner that only Sasuke could before he changed his stance and his hands blurred though fire style hand signs. "Fire style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Kunai flew at him just as a fire spewed from the Uchiha's mouth, engulfing the kunai that Menma was not supposed to have seen. Or maybe he had been and the Uchiha was just that confident in his abilities.

Menma smirked before falling backwards and into his own shadow. He realised that this could potentially alert Lee and Choji to who he really was but that didn't matter as he didn't reappear in another shadow but rather bounced straight back up through his own. His actions had been so quick that if anyone had seen him disappear into his own shadow then he'd be impressed. As it was Lee and Choji had been watching Sasuke's flaming kunai.

"Not bad, but that's a cookie cutter jutsu." Menma replied staring at the destructive path of the kunai that were now imbedded in various things around the clearing, smoking slightly and some still the cherry red colour of heated metal.

He received a narrow eyed glare in response. "I personally like this one." Menma inhaled sharply, filling his lungs with as much air as he could fit in them before it became painful.

He only used one hand sign before slowly blowing out the air in his lungs. The smallest fire ball imaginable formed in the air, more of a flame then a destructive ball of flames.

What confused the ninja watching the most was the odd high pitched noise of rotation. Menma himself was metaphorically holding his breath. This jutsu had been derived from the Rasengan. Would Kakashi notice? However it was too late now and the black haired Shinobi backed away from the flame, intent on getting some distance between him and the tiny blob of orange before he set it off.

Menma stopped blowing air from his lungs and the high pitched ringing increased causing them all to wince. Menma himself started backing away even more, frowning slightly as he tried to judge the destructive radius of the jutsu he tried to weaken.

Menma changed his hand sign to the rat, the reaction instant. A simultaneous explosion of heated and cool air washed over the gathered Shinobi, the impact alone making them drag several paces backwards. There wasn't even any noise, just a bright white light.

"Was that a chakra collaboration technique?" Kakashi managed to ask around his shock as he watched the jutsu begin to dim before sparking and dying away, leaving a small scorched crater behind.

"Wind and fire. That was a little one though." Menma nodded.

"Amazing. It's a wonder you managed to survive with only that scar. I bet it extends further than your face, doesn't it?" Kakashi asked looking at the boy with a renewed respect. Trying to work with two such reactive natures in order to create a combined jutsu must have caused him a lot of pain.

"Half way down my chest and over onto one of my shoulders. Nearly died the first time around." Menma sighed, his tone and eyes growing distant.

"This technique took me a whole year to master. That's a long time for me. I've managed to learn other techniques, S-rank techniques in little more than a month. So for me to spend a whole year on a technique is excessive. I almost gave up on it but I got stubborn after a near fatal accident I had trying to perfect it."

"I don't get hurt often and when I do I always heal quickly, but this," Menma gestured to the lower half of his face. "This took months to heal from. Internally I ruptured one lung, practically blew it to pieces, burned my throat to near cinders, literally ate fire, blue fire, which is way more intense and packs more of a punch since the one I showed you was a smaller version, and burned my face off right to the bone. I would have died there and then but for reasons I can't remember I didn't."

"The trick is leaving just enough space between the air rotating around the fire and the flame itself and then bringing them together when you're ready." Menma shrugged, coming back to the land of the living after his reminiscing of fatal injuries past.

Rotating air. Now that was something. Kakashi wondered if this kid would be able to finish the Rasengan but that was a theory he didn't want to test.

"Why do you have so many power house jutsu?" Sakura asked quietly, the only one not awed by the display. She had instead come to the conclusion that only desperate people would experiment with collaboration style jutsus and Menma must have been the worst kind of desperate to use that combination. Separately they were immensely powerful, but together they were nothing but trouble.

Menma didn't reply. In fact he appeared to be about to refuse to say anything further, even turning away from the kunoichi altogether. Very quietly he muttered to himself, "So that I could prove that I was better."

Out loud he stated coldly, "I have enemies that'd like nothing more than to kill me." Only partially true. He'd known the Akatsuki were after him for a while and not just because he was a threat, but there was also the small unknown to them fact that he was a Jinchuriki. They'd come for him eventually. They'd figure it out, and when they did, he'd be ready for them.

* * *

"So this is the Uchiha Compound." Menma commented thoughtfully as he glanced around. Sasuke didn't answer. An answer wasn't needed when it was such a rhetorical question.

"My room is here." Sasuke stated, stopping outside of a door that wasn't very far from the entrance. Menma didn't imagine this little house being the clan head's house so it seemed Sasuke didn't want to venture too far into the place. Menma didn't exactly blame him. He also noted that there weren't any Uchiha symbols within view of the room.

"Your room will be that one." Sasuke pointed to a door directly next to the one he was currently standing outside of. "Food is your own responsibility."

Menma couldn't help the sarcastic reply that he bit back, '_Why don't I just sleep on top of you, that way you'll really be sure if I try something._'

Sasuke then opened the door to his room and went inside, silently telling Menma that conversations were not happening. He didn't even bother to stick around long enough to see if Menma even made a move to go to his assigned room.

With a soft sign Menma went to his assigned room, pushing open the door and walking in. He toed off his shoes at the entrance of the room and slung his pack from his back. There wasn't anything in the room other than a bed, a chest of drawers and a chair. He dumped his bag on the chair and flopped onto the bed so that that he could stare at the ceiling.

He'd given far too much information away already. He needed to tone it down but at the same time he needed to gain their trust. It was a double edged sword and he remembered more acutely then before, the reasons he's refrained from coming back to Konoha at all. But Gaara was the reason he was here now.

He needed to protect his friend and this was the only thing he'd been able to come up with that would actually work in his favour in all aspects. A shot at the Akatsuki, a shot at his Team, and protecting his friend. Really what more could he ask for?

Closing his eyes Menma didn't bother to get undressed. He'd worry about that in an hour or so, when he woke up again. For now he'd simply push all that aside.

He had plenty to do, from gaining Team 7's trust, to helping Konohamaru use that sword. The little idiot wasn't at all trained in kenjutsu, so right now having given him that sword made entirely from chakra metal was a waste. He also wanted to re-establish his privacy while still maintaining an air of trustworthiness. Trust, trust, trust . . . something that reverberated around his mind and was giving him a headache.

A tiny glint turned his attention to the necklace that had fallen to the floor as he'd flopped onto the bed. He must be really out of it if he hadn't even heard it fall. Sitting back up he scooped up the green crystal that had once been the necklace of the first Hokage. This necklace was something he'd earned by learning a jutsu. It was something he'd worked damn hard to get. It was also a reminder of who he had been and what he'd been fighting for only to learn that he'd been a fool all along.

Clenching his hand around the crystal he stood and stuffed it down to the bottom of the bag. He was careful to seal his bag so that no one could open it and see what was inside unless he allowed them to before he lay back down on the bed, his thoughts picking right up from before.

Trust. Something he was going to nearly break his neck to establish, only to completely shatter it when he revealed his true intentions. Ah, the looks of betrayal would be sweet. He'd savour them, memorise every drop of their tears, if there were any, and enjoy every widened millimetre of their eyes. Hell he'd even thoroughly enjoy the dropped jaws. All the stuttered questions, the flustered composures. All of it would be glorious.

But… would all of it really be as satisfying as he's always imagined?

He pushed the words Konohamaru Sarutobi away from his mind, before they could even fully form.

Yet, now that he was actually back, things were different, no matter how much he didn't want them to be. It was clear to him that the Konoha 11 had felt pain, some far more than others, at his departure so that must mean that they cared, didn't it? Yet none of them had found him. Not a single one had managed to look up. He'd been right there and not one of them had seen him.

Then, they just stopped looking.

The rational part of him knew that they had to, were forced to defend their village once again but a smaller pathetic part of him still keened out in loneliness and despair, crying out, trying to be heard, to be noticed.

Squeezing his eyes shut more tightly, he forced his mind to go blank so that he could sleep. He had a lot to do.

* * *

"Enter."

The head of the ANBU walked into the Hokage's office, taking note of the hour and mentally categorising it as getting far too late, but it wasn't quite there yet.

"The assessment report on Konohamaru Sarutobi, Lady Hokage." A scroll was placed in the Hokage's hands directly. The young boy had surprised them all, both impressing and causing them to grow cautious at the same time. The things he'd learned, some were well within reason, while others had been forbidden jutsus, being forbidden as such for a number of reasons. Other jutsu had been chilling in their effectiveness. His almost cold efficiency troubled some of the younger ANBU and the accelerated growth of his chakra reserve had bothered the older ANBU. Some of the jutsus he'd used had made some of the ANBU start to question the very physics behind the way of ninja and ninjutsu.

"If I may, Lady Hokage. The boy's teacher, the Kage . . . the ANBU are starting have doubts about his death."

"As they should." Tsunade's smile was a cold one.

"If I may once more, Lady Hokage, that new team member of Team 7's. Is he the Kage?"

He wasn't the head of the ANBU for nothing. He had been just as intrigued by this permanent replacement for Uzumaki, thinking the same things as everyone else. Team 7 would not have allowed it unless it had been important. Furthermore, he, like everyone else, was curious as to whom this Shinobi was and just what he was capable of, only to find that there had been no records of him at all. None. And that wasn't the Leaf Village way.

Konohamaru Sarutobi's odd calm acceptance of his mentor's supposed death had also been warning bells. The boy was naturally an emotional hothead, so he shouldn't have been so accepting of it. That coupled with the boy's skill had led the ANBU to conclude only one thing, the Kage was not dead. The sudden appearance of a Leaf Shinobi no one had seen or heard of and was placed on Team 7 as a permanent member meant only one thing for the head of the ANBU. Menma was Nin.

"I have my reasons for working with him. That being said, I have already set up precautions and have taken action to learn the truth about him. Make no mistake about it, he is from the Leaf. The only problem is when and who. That is why I wanted the missing genin reports. Have you managed to create a report on the Kage?" Tsunade replied, confirming the question with her words.

"It's difficult, Lady Hokage. He's more elusive then we first believed. No one seems to have anything solid on him."

"The Akatsuki themselves weren't too successful. They managed to find out things about him through his clients. Perhaps that will help you. For now, focus on watching him. I don't want him to know, so be as discrete as you can. So far he's co-operating, but I feel like we're giving him exactly what he wants." Tsunade sighed.

"Yes mam."

"And be careful. There's something about him, something that terrifies even me." Tsunade whispered.

The Head of the ANBU hesitated. Tsunade was known for her brutality when called for but thinking back on Konohamaru's silent effectiveness, the Head of the ANBU had to agree. Yes, there was something about him that was worthy of being terrified of.

* * *

Danzo stared down at the youth bowing in front of him.

"Tsunade has requested the help of ROOT. Very unethical to be sure, but I for one am not complaining. If she knows about ROOT and is confident enough to ask me directly then it's safe to assume she has some concrete evidence. I should be thankful that I'm not sitting with Ibiki right now." Danzo fumed.

"Lord Danzo?" the black haired youth looked up at him, revealing dead coal like eyes and skin so pale it shone slightly in the dimly lit room.

"I have chosen you to fulfil her demands. You have yet to fail a mission so I expect nothing less from you. For this mission you will be known as Sai." Danzo stated, reigning in his anger. It was not good to preach about utter emotionlessness only to express them yourself.

"Sai? That will take some getting used to. What am I to do?" Sai replied.

"Whatever she tells you to while at the same time you'll be reporting back to me. Her original reason for wanting a ROOT member was to place them on Team 7 but I'm not fool enough to actually believe that." Danzo mumbled half to himself and half to Sai.

"So I'll be working as a double agent. Wouldn't the Hokage already know that I'd report back to you?" Sai asked.

"Probably. It's your job to find out what the hell is going on around here. There are too many hidden agendas and the safety of the Leaf is all riding on your performance in this mission. You cannot fail. I will assign some of your brethren to help you a small bit, but for the most part you're on your own. You'll report to the Hokage tomorrow morning. Dismissed." Danzo waved a hand, not giving the boy time to reply.

Sai didn't even make a noise as he disappeared from the room, not even creating enough wind in his departure to make the lone candle flicker.

* * *

Sasuke noticed the limp Menma had even though he tried to hide it. But you couldn't hide things like that from an Uchiha's eyes. Sasuke didn't say anything though, but rather tucked the information away for later.

He did take note that Menma was wearing a new set of pants today, one that didn't have a bloody hole in it. His injured hand was stuffed in one pocket while the other was gloved in fingerless orange denim with a metal plate on the back. His shirt was the same as yesterday's pitch black, only now it had sleeves, loosely bundling and swaying to the motion of his body. His bag didn't appear to be with him today but that was making assumptions and you never made assumptions in the Shinobi would and especially not with ones like him. Today, however, he had a sword strapped to his back, much like the one Konohamaru had been given at the chunin exams. Mask attachment seemed to be something he even slept with.

And Sasuke had checked on him. Finding him only asleep for the first time he'd checked on him but more than awake every other time.

He was a little surprised at how little the other Shinobi slept at all and how much he pretended to sleep. He had to know that Sasuke knew he'd been awake so why the ruse? Was he mocking Sasuke? It didn't matter. He'd stayed in his room all night, so far as he could tell. It had occurred to Sasuke that the other might be using shadow clones and the Hokage couldn't reasonably expect him to keep track of all those and the original while still getting enough sleep to function at his best. He'd have to bring the issue up with Kakashi and see what the other said.

"Training ground 7 again today?" Menma asked, leaning against one of the support pillars of the house.

"Breakfast first idiot." Sasuke replied. He might have been the sole heir to the Uchiha legacy but that didn't mean he knew anything about cooking and despite being a feared and respected member of Team 7, he still needed to eat.

"Alright. Lead the way."

The stand Sasuke chose was one that he liked for its flexible hours and not so much for its food. Rice balls and sushi was what he typically ordered and when the owner saw him coming he quickly started to prepare the dish, knowing about Sasuke's lack of patience even if he appeared to have it in buckets just by looking at him.

"Raw fish." Menma commented, wrinkling his nose.

"As opposed to deep fried rubber in a bowl?" Sasuke countered.

Menma sneered, visible even through his mask before he waved a hand dismissively and walked over to a dango stand and ordered several servings. This early in the morning and already eating that much food. Sasuke inwardly disapproved of the choice but it wasn't his place to say anything.

"You know, you lot don't really strike me as the team that's got everyone quaking in their boots. I mean, every time you mention Konoha, people immediately start blubbering about Sharingan no Kakashi and his creepy genin team and have turned out to be just as deadly as he is . . . . . but I'm not impressed." Menma commented as he ate the dango sticks.

Sasuke didn't respond. He was well aware of the reputation his team had built, with two Sharingan users and a medic more aggressive than Tsunade herself, they were a team that was whispered about over drinks as though anything louder and the members of the team itself would pop into existence and kill you where you stood.

He also knew that those rumours were not unfounded. He himself had a particular brand of sadistic charm, used mostly in his off the report searches for his missing teammate. He hadn't given up on the blonde. He had to find him and bring him home and the longer he remained missing the more convinced he became that Naruto hadn't left of his own free will. The Loser had been far to dedicated to this village to simply leave. No one even knew why he'd left but Sasuke had his suspicions that the chunin sensei knew something.

He'd just never had the opportunity to question him, until now. With Menma's arrival he now had more free time on his hands. No more long ass, high ranking missions, at least not for a while and he planned to take advantage.

"What, not going to tell me what an idiot I am and just how you're going to grind my ass into the dust to prove me wrong?" Menma pressed.

"On the contrary, compared to you, who would be impressed?" Sasuke drawled back. "I don't know the full extent of your capabilities but I'm willing to bet that you'll beat me without even working up a sweat. Probably in stamina alone. Am I right?"

Menma stared at the Uchiha suspiciously. Since when had he been so . . . level headed? Sasuke had always been the arrogant bastard that took every opportunity to show the world just how good he was, just how far he'd progressed above the rest. Was he hiding something? Was he trying to lull him into a false sense of security? It didn't make sense. Why was he so . . . . urg . . . humble?!

Menma was now forced to conclude that not once had Sasuke stated he was better than anyone there, in both actions and words. This was completely messing with his mind. Was that what the Uchiha wanted?

But, no, he couldn't have known about Menma's feelings of suspicion and hatred towards him.

URG! This was all getting far too confusing. _Just stick to the plan! You don't need to do anything more than that! The plan, stick to the plan. _

Menma was surprised to see that no one else was in the training ground when they arrived. He supposed that it was usual for Kakashi but for Sakura? That he wasn't so sure on.

"Spar with me?" Sasuke asked, but it didn't really sound like he was asking. Then again, his tone was so flat it was kind of hard to tell.

"Can you keep up?" Menma asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"You know for someone who believes the Uchiha to be so arrogant, you sure are cocky." Sasuke muttered before moving into the attack, not waiting for an answer from Menma.

Menma didn't know who was more surprised when Sasuke's fist actually collided with his face. Menma slide several feet backwards before he'd regained enough of his senses to catch himself.

"No way." Menma murmured, eyes wide.

"What was that about not being impressed by Team 7? We have that reputation for a reason you know." Sasuke allowed himself a small smirk.

"I guess so." Menma smirked in replied. Then the two were at it, each one trying their best to come out on top but surprising themselves when neither was able to best the other in a straight up taijutsu bout.

Menma actually found himself laughing, truly having a good time and that surprised him. Why did he feel so nostalgic? Was it because he was trading blows with an opponent that was both intimately familiar and unpredictably new? Either way, he found himself repeating that morning's mantra far too often.

A sudden screaming pain in his mind made his world jolt violently. Something wasn't right? Everything was going wrong, the way things looked, the way things sounded. It was like they were all twisting out of focus, jerking away from him in excruciating lurches. He felt like he was screaming but no sound greeted his ears other than the distorted sounds of his and Sasuke's spar.

The instant shock of icy water splashing over heated skin pulled him from his pain filled and twisted world only to be plunged into a different kind of pain. It was the kind of pain you'd managed to ignore while in the heat of the battle but when it was all over everything just came crashing back to your awareness with some sort of vengeance.

Chocking on a cry of pained surprise Menma looked around wildly trying to get his bearings.

"Your over confidence was definitely your down fall." A familiar voice drawled from the dark shadows surrounding the rack Menma now found himself tied to. His arms were stretched painfully in opposite directions, as were his legs, forcing his body into some horrendous X-shape.

"What the hell is happening?" Menma snarled, putting up a mask of bravado since that was essentially his only defence.

Jerking at the chains keeping him in place he realised that they were the chakra absorbing kind and were slowly sapping away his chakra. That wasn't good. He needed at least some chakra to keep his disguise in place.

Glancing down at himself told him that he was wearing nothing but his pants and his boots. Well that was an inviting thought.

Searching his mind was enough to tell him that his memories had been tampered with, and he had no idea what had happened since his spar with Sasuke. He didn't even know how long ago that had been.

"The ANBU interrogator keeping you under the genjutsu had to take a break." That same voice replied. Menma didn't bother wasting his time trying to spot the one that was answering his questions. Genjutsu huh? So what was real and what wasn't? He knew that the best genjutsu was not the one where you were being tortured into insanity by horrendous images, but rather the ones where you were living an absolutely ordinary life, only to suddenly lose it all in some terrible yet believable way. That hadn't happened here.

At least he was partially sure that hadn't happened here. Now he had to figure out what was real and what wasn't. Had he trained Konohamaru or hadn't he? Was he even Menma at all?

With a soft growl of frustration he realised that line of thinking was exactly what they wanted him to think. Confused Shinobi spoke an awful lot and by the time they realised just what had happened it was too late.

Instead he looked around the room, roughly estimating that he was in the middle, seals covering every inch of the floor with the slight glow on some of them indicating that they were active. He also noted that they all led to the middle of the room, right where he was being contained. Did they know what they were containing?

Well the fact that he was a Jinchuriki hardly mattered when he himself had sealed all the Kyuubi's chakra away. Or had he? ARG! He needed to figure out what was happening and soon.

"You're probably getting a little desperate for answers right about now, aren't you?" Sasuke Uchiha stepped into the limited light, shadows making his face look ghoulishly blank.

"Just tell me how long?" Menma very nearly begged.

"It's an effective little genjutsu isn't it? I developed it with only one purpose in mind, to extract information from the most hardened of Shinobi. I must say, I've never met a ninja with your resistance before. The only reason you're 'aware' is because my genjutsu had proven useless. That and the fact that the confusion strikes me as the kind of thing you'd like least of all." Sasuke continued as though he hadn't spoken at all.

Menma growled. What had happened? What was real? How long had he been here? Who was he?

Was he even a Shinobi?

No, no, no. Stick to the plan. Yes, the plan.

Was it even his plan at all? Or had that been the genjutsu?

Hang on. He was being interrogated. So it was safe to assume that no matter what was in his memories, he wasn't considered a friend so those memories were probably false. So that sparring with Sasuke, the lunch at the restaurant where he'd sat down with the members of the Konoha 11, that didn't happen.

Or had it and that had all been an act and if it had been an act who had been the ones acting?

A scream of utter helplessness escaped Menma's lips. He choked on a sob as he tried not to scream again. Was he even the kind of person that was too prideful to breakdown in front of others? How many people were in the room? The darkness made that impossible to see.

No.

Focus. You can figure this all out.

Name? Nin, Menma, Shin, Konohamaru, Sasuke, Neji, Lee, Shikamaru . . . . . . . . .

A never ending list of names! Which one was the real one?

If he could he'd be gripping his hair in frustration right now. Glancing up at Sasuke, he didn't even know he was crying, large near endless yet silent tears of utter frustration and panic.

"Who am I?" he asked in a tone so anguished he didn't even recognise it.

* * *

Kakashi frowned as he watched Menma being released from Sasuke's genjutsu. He didn't particularly enjoy Sasuke's brand of sadism but this was something he had to be around to analyse and so far he was baffled. Sasuke had been the one casting the genjutsu and he hadn't run out of chakra, no, Menma's mind had rejected the images so violently that Sasuke had actually stumbled. The sad part is the images had actually been memories. This was a reaction he'd never seen before. Usually the person was confused but they at least had a good sense of who they were, where they were and what their intentions were. Menma had none of this and his own mind was rejecting his memories, as though he couldn't, or wouldn't believe his own thoughts.

This . . . this was like he simply couldn't trust a single piece of information in his mind, like there were far too many variables to consider. Perhaps there were. After all how could they expect a ninja who built his entire reputation on secrecy to have a clear understanding of anything after being placed under that genjutsu? Not to mention the fact that they knew nothing about him or what kind of seals he had placed on his body and mind. Had they triggered one accidently?

Between Sasuke and himself, they'd greatly underestimated the state of Menma's mind and this just might cost them the information they had been after in the first place.

Just what exactly had Menma's state of mind been before they'd performed the jutsu? Thinking back to all the times they'd interacted he realised that he honestly couldn't tell. One moment Kakashi was sure the boy was stark raving mad and others he was cool, calm and level headed.

"Why don't you tell us who you think you are?" Kakashi stated in a comforting tone, walking forward and deciding to take over.

"Nin? Menma? Nobody. Not strong enough. Not good enough, never good enough. Monster. Killer." Menma was getting worked up, his face distorting into confusion and panic.

"Shhhh, that's fine. It's alright. We'll work through this in stages." Kakashi interrupted before he could continue. Truthfully the answers troubled him. The question had been a simple one and those answers were not what one would expect.

"What can you remember?" Kakashi asked carefully, keeping his voice low and friendly. How anything could be considered friendly while tied to a torture rack was beyond him but Menma's chestnut eyes, filled with fear and confusion stayed glued to his face.

"I don't know what's real anymore." Menma replied in a hoarse whisper.

A tiny flare of chakra from one of the ANBU in the shadows was their signal to back away from Menma and head into the viewing room. Sasuke sighed, hating the interruption while Kakashi mentally rejoiced the chance to escape that haunted gaze.

"Aright Menma, we're going to go and see what we can find out. We'll be right back." Kakashi stated in that same low, soothing tone while carefully backing away.

Menma's eyes only grew more panicked upon seeing them leave, struggling with the bonds once more.

Kakashi didn't know what had gone wrong but he had to think of something and quickly. Tsunade would want answers and he had to give her something, and right now anything would work.

Sure enough the moment they walked through the door the fifth Hokage barked angrily, "What the hell is happening in there?! All of a sudden everything changed."

"We're not entirely sure." Kakashi started.

"His mind rejected the genjutsu." Sasuke finished.

"Rejected? But I thought the whole point to the genjutsu was to take their daily life and use those memories against them by dragging them out of the genjutsu and leaving them disorientated. That being said, how does one reject a genjutsu that's essentially their own memories?" Ibiki asked in confusion.

"We're not sure." Kakashi repeated.

"His rejection of genjutsu appears to have been rather violent. His mind is now in a state of confusion beyond recognition. We'll need either Ino or Inoichi to actually understand just how deep the damage is." Sasuke further explained. "He doesn't trust his own memories and cannot differentiate between reality and genjutsu, or rather what he thinks is genjutsu, which was the purpose of the jutsu in the first place. If this jutsu had worked this well with every person we tried it on it would've been far more fun to waste chakra on." Sasuke added under his breath but they heard him.

"So your jutsu was created with the specific purpose in mind of causing the Shinobi under it to lose track of reality altogether. What's the advantage of that?" Tsunade asked.

"You can essentially recreate the way they think. Like a reboot on the brain. You can tell them what's reality and what isn't and in their vulnerable state they'll believe you. We could get Menma on our side if we play our cards right. However, getting information out of him is going to be more difficult now." Kakashi explained.

"I don't care if he's an ally or not. I want to know what he's hiding." Sasuke snapped.

"Be rational Sasuke. So far he hasn't made a move against Konoha. That could change in a heartbeat and do you really want that guy working for someone like Orochimaru?" Jiraiya's sudden input was enough to remind that the sannin was actually in the room as well.

"I want nothing to do with him." Sasuke glared at the far wall, not meeting any of their gazes.

"You're only so angry with his actions because you'd actually started to like him." Kakashi sighed. Truthfully, he had also started to like the other Shinobi and he, like Sasuke, was pissed as hell for the betrayal that wasn't. After all, owing another Shinobi a favour was like being in servitude. It sucked.

Sasuke should know better.

"Alright! Let's get back to what we're going to do with him. So far we have ANBU rotating their shifts to keep those restraints in place. At this rate we're going to run out of ANBU since they're getting tired before the others can fully recuperate." Tsunade began in her no nonsense tone. "Reports on his actions have been sketchy at best and not even Danzo managed to dig anything good up. The reports based on observation had shown us that he wants us to think he's far more powerful than what he truly is but that doesn't mean he isn't a force to be reckoned with and that last mission you were on was a dismal failure to say the least, all thanks to him."

"We've been at this for a week now. He didn't crack under the usual genjutsu torture methods and his chakra is still going strong this far in. I say that we let him gather his wits and then try the physical torture. We need answers Lady Hokage and there's no doubt about it. He knows more than he'll ever freely tell us." Ibiki replied, his face grim.

There was silence as both Jiraiya and Tsunade chewed over the information. They were in a dire situation. If the other villages found out about the Shinobi they essentially had hauled up in their basement then they could possibly have war on their hands, everyone fighting for the ninja. He could miraculously find a way to escape and turn against the Leaf and go work for the Akatsuki. That wasn't desirable in the least.

Neither was physical torture but that was usually the ANBU interrogation's last straw. It stated with simple manipulation on words that didn't work on the quick minded. Then they moved onto genjutsu. The thought of pain was far more devastating in some cases than the actual pain itself. Should genjutsu fail, physical torture came next.

Tsunade was hesitant to go that far but they needed answers.

"Ibiki, I leave him to you." Tsunade sighed heavily.

"If I may, Lady Hokage, I believe I have an idea. I'll need to confer with Jiraiya if he doesn't mind." Kakashi stated hurriedly.

"Sure. I'm game." Jiraiya perked up, eager to see what Kakashi wanted because he was tired of watching a child being tortured, even if it was necessary.

* * *

Menma closed his eyes to block out the depressing sight around him. He stomach clenched and rolled painfully indicating that he hadn't eaten for a while now. But that hardly mattered. He had to sort out what was happening in his mind, and quickly.

Being tied to a rack meant he wasn't trusted so he shouldn't trust any one of them either. Not even the silver haired Shinobi. He knew that Shinobi. His name was Kakashi Hatake, Sharingan user, sensei, ex ANBU. Those were only a few of the titles he had but Menma felt that those were the most important for now.

Alright, so that was a certainty. Hmmm, so what next. A name?

No, not yet.

A purpose?

Uchiha was all that he could come up with. So something to do with the Uchiha. Sasuke Uchiha was what came to mind when he thought about the Clan of Sharingan users. Itachi. The older brother and the murder. The traitor that wasn't. That one definitely needed some more thought.

Loneliness.

That was something that gnawed at his mind like a dog with a bone. Ah yes, the isolation. Not even his own sensei had wanted to teach him.

Anger, yet it was more of a betrayal.

His precious person's betrayal. Yes, yes, it was all coming into focus now. He was starting to place everything together again, piece by excruciating piece.

It was time to visit the fox. He'd be able to clarify everything all in one go. Since his eyes were already closed it was only a matter of retreating within his jumbled mind. Someone was going to pay for this.

No one noticed the growl of anger that vibrated through Menma's chest and since his eyes were closed, no one noticed the light almost cheerful chestnut bleed into something far more malevolent and sinister. His eyes were now almost as black as the Uchiha's with a demonic red glint when the light hit it just right.

He was now the Shinobi he became when he was the Kage, a Shinobi that was more intolerable than Ibiki and they would not break him. '_No_,' with a sadistic chuckle he retreated further and further till sandaled feet hit the sewer floor, '_They would not.'_ Time to speak to the fox.

* * *

**Now I draw somewhat decent pictures if I put my mind to it but I'm a lazy artist. I could draw some pictures for this but that would take time away from my writing. Should I draw or write? Entirely up to you, my readers. If you say so I shall do so. **

**Last but not least, what the hell is Sai's obsession with balls all about? I have to write a scene with him in it pretty soon and I'm not sure how server this obsession is. Any one got some pointers? **

**Oh yeah, one more thing. I'm about half way with chapter 8, possibly. These things tend to write themselves I tell you and I'm at the mercy of my plot bunnies here. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Alrighty here's the next chapter. **

**First thing's first, thanks to my both my Betas, ****TheGreatBubbaJ and Jenny-Cat-Miaow. Although, my thoughts and well wishes go out the TheGreatBubbaJ who's having some computer problems. My the tech Gods be with you in your time of need. **

**Thanks for all the reviews guys, they're awesome. Gotta ask though, are you feeling the confusion and the frustration? They say the best writers are the ones that make the reader feel what the character is feeling, can you feel it? **

**If so then I'm doing my job. XD**

**Oh and perhaps I need to explain Sasuke's genjutsu a little more. Hmmmm, well, we'll see how future chapters go . . . Unless you guys would like me to. **

**Oh and there is a difference between Naruto, Menma and Nin. In this chapter it'll be a little clearer. **

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"**Tell me again why it's in** **my best interest to help you out?"** Kyuubi asked with a yawn, barely lifting his head from his paws, the dim lights gleaming on his large teeth, reminding Menma that although the fox might be restrained, he was still dangerous.

"Because the sooner I can figure out what happened the sooner I can start the carnage." Menma snapped back impatiently, trying to appeal to the fox's violent nature.

"**Yeah, and you, every currently restrained and chakra drained inch of you, is going to inflict the carnage on Konoha's best."** The Kyuubi snorted in reply, almost chuckling along but thought the words spoke for themselves.

Dammit! The Kyuubi actually had a point. Whoever thought the nine-tailed demon was nothing more than a beast, well Menma would be the first to sock them. He was cunning and manipulative as well as sadistically sarcastic. Mostly though, he was just annoying.

"Please." Menma breathed. It wasn't a word he'd used in a long time, and it was a sign of his desperation that he used it now. Perhaps the Kyuubi would respond to manners. Who knew?

"**Not working. Now are you done bugging me? I was having a rather amusing dream of devouring you." **Kyuubi asked with an impatient sigh.

"What if I agreed to remove the seal blocking your chakra?" Menma offered, not at all fazed by the impatient growl he was receiving.

"**You rely on it too much for me to take that offer seriously."**

"I never go back on my word." Menma stated firmly, "You, better than anyone should know that by now."

"**You almost did but you can't remember that."** Kyuubi chuckled, his red eyes finally opening as his teeth grinned down at Menma.

"Are you going to tell me what happened or are you just going to dangle tempting bits in my face?" Menma deadpanned.

"**Oh, fine. I'll show you if it'll get you to leave me alone. I almost wish you were here only for my chakra."** Kyuubi sounded like he was pouting, but one could never be sure with all those teeth. He'd long since gotten bored and annoyed with the fact that he could no longer intimidate his jailor.

The red bubbling heat of the Kyuubi's chakra swarmed towards him, licking at his feet before caressing its way up his body.

"Trying to seduce me, eh fox?" Menma quirked an eyebrow at the grinning fox as the chakra continued to swirl around him, making his skin tingle in an oddly painful yet pleasurable way.

"**No, **_**boy**_**, power is seductive in itself. Why do you think it's so sought after?" **The Kyuubi chuckled in reply, amused at the mere thought of trying to seduce the dimwit into doing anything. He'd known Menma far too long to be fooled by his act of control. The Kyuubi wasn't deluding himself into thinking that Menma was going to carry out his plans; after all he lived within the boy's mind.

He knew the very thoughts the boy himself tried so hard to suppress. It was only a matter of time before Menma realised this himself. But perhaps something would happen to change that and the way things were going, the chances were looking very promising.

The chakra was almost completely covering Menma now, the slight tingle changing to a slow burn that started on the surface of his skin and sunk in deeper and deeper, completely consuming him in its warmth, in its painful embrace.

Menma felt his mind being tugged away from his mindscape and into the realm of memories; _his _memories.

It seemed that they were going to pick up from where they left off in the genjutsu. Sasuke was sitting on the ground, trying to catch his breath while Sakura scolded him as she healed his wounds. Kakashi was tending to Menma's, his actions swift and practiced but he was silent while he did so.

"That was fun." Menma panted, turning slightly to look the Uchiha in the eyes. "I take it back about you not being all that impressive. Sure as heck kept me on my toes."

Sasuke smirked in reply before adding, "What kind of an Uchiha would I be if I didn't at least keep up with my opponents. Your taijutsu style is interesting and quite effective. Where is it from?"

"It's kind of a mash up of everything." Menma shrugged. Most of it however, had been learned from these monks in some out of the way temple. They devoted their lives to finding inter balance and they were really kick ass when it came to taijutsu. However they were against fighting and only practiced it for the whole inner balance thing. Personally Menma was just surprised that they had agreed to teach him.

"I really wish you hadn't targeting my injured leg so much though." Menma added with a wince as Kakashi bandaged the freshly opened wound once again.

"I had to gain the advantage somehow." Sasuke shrugged, earning him a smack from Sakura who was still tending to his shoulder.

"Sit still." She hissed at him before refocusing her chakra so that she could continue the healing.

"Even so, your teammates should be protected and not exploited." Kakashi scolded as he finished tightening the bandage, moving on to the next wound. "What happens if we get called to do a mission right now?"

"You have a point there, sensei." Sasuke muttered looking down.

"Yeah, I guess we got a little carried away." Menma muttered, his blush peaking over the top of his mask. He actually did feel the burn of shame from Kakashi's scolding. How odd. He shouldn't care what the jonin thought. But he did, enough to feel embarrassed at his oversight anyways.

"I'd ask for a ninjutsu match but I know I'll lose that one." Sasuke sighed.

"It's not the number of jutsu you know, but rather how well you use them." Menma muttered. "For a while I only knew three and I used them pretty well."

"Yeah and you seem to do an awful lot of showing off with your current jutsu." Sakura grumbled, still a little angry that the two boys had beaten the stuffing out of each other so early in the morning.

"Of course. I need to impress the ladies." Menma winked at Sakura, making her blush.

"Sorry, I make it a point of not dating guys whose face I can't see." Sakura smirked back.

Menma frowned before lifting a hand and tugging down his mask. "Does it make it easier to talk to me like this?" he asked quietly, knowing full well that most people didn't actually know how to respond to it when they did see it, not that many had. He was a Shinobi so injuries and scars were expected, but since he hid it behind a mask most of the time, did that make it a sore topic? They could never decide. They just didn't know that he didn't hide his face because of the burn.

The mask really acted as two things, something to hide his face and the barely there whisker marks that insisted on showing through his henge to some degree, hence the burn to further cover them (Not that the burn was fake, just the extent of how much it had healed) and the second reason he hid his face was because it was part of his disguise. It created an air of mystery and hidden intent. It was great for intimidation.

Sakura stopped her healing of Sasuke and moved to look more closely at the wound on Menma's lower face. Very gently she touched the textured skin. "It's still healing." She breathed pulling her hand away again.

"_. . . Nin can make his transformations as real as an actual person."_

Konohamaru's statement bounced around in Kakashi's head as he silently studied the burn. Did that go for scars as well? Perhaps the only reason why it was not yet healed was because he didn't know the process of how a burn should heal.

However, Kakashi couldn't be one hundred percent sure.

"It doesn't hurt anymore, much. If that's what you're wondering." Menma replied with a shrug.

"Alright you two. Your act of stupidity doesn't get you out of this morning's training. We still have to work on our formations." Kakashi stated while both Menma and Sasuke groaned.

"Serves you two morons right." Sakura nodded with an evil gleam in her eyes.

* * *

In another place in the village, one of Menma's shadow clones walked down the streets of Konoha, searching for a certain Sarutobi Chunin.

He spotted the boy walking a little ahead of him, hands in pockets and head down. He looked like he was thinking rather deeply about something. Menma smirked before hurrying to catch up to the kid.  
"You shouldn't think so hard. I can see the smoke coming out of your ears."

"Eh Sensei? Why do you always have to be so mean?" Konohamaru jerked away from the hand Menma had placed on his shoulder.

"What's eating at you?" Menma asked instead, skipping the small talk.

Konohamaru glanced at him, a small miserable frown on his features. "All the ANBU thought I was weird. None of them said it but I just know that's what they were thinking."

Menma regarded the younger Shinobi silently before sighing. "Meh, Konohamaru, I never did give you a gift to celebrate your graduation to Chunin did I?" Menma asked with a grin much like Kakashi's.

"I thought that was what the sword was for." Konohamaru replied with uncertainty.

"No. That was for surviving my training aaaaaand for saving your ass. Speaking of the sword, I guess I should teach you how to use it, neh?" Menma chuckled.

"Well in that case, you can take me to Ichiraku's and you're paying!" Konohamaru pointed a finger accusingly at him, only Menma wasn't quite sure what he was being accused of.

"So," Menma began as he sat down at the table, Konohamaru taking the seat next to him. He paused to give their order to the two owners of the Ichiraku stand before returning his attention to his student, "About the ANBU. Want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Konohamaru muttered.

"Alright then, you eat and I'll talk. Tsunade wanted a report on your level of abilities so she told the ANBU to evaluate your capabilities. The ANBU didn't like what they found because they've never encountered what they did when they saw you fight. People, Shinobi especially, don't like things they don't understand." Menma explained in a gentle tone.

"Why don't you just tell them what you know? You're a Leaf Shinobi too! Which is something I wished you'd told me when you were training me." Konohamaru asked before starting on his ramen.

Menma sighed. How was he going to explain this to the kid without him over reacting?

"Konohamaru, do you know what happens to Shinobi who defect from their village? They don't get welcomed back with open arms." Menma started, reaching into his back pocket so that he could pull out his slashed headband.

"Do you know what it means to slash your own headband?" Konohamaru took the offered headband carefully. Menma continued without waiting for a reply. "It means you're no longer loyal to the village. You no longer consider yourself a part of it and you definitely don't want to help them out in any way. You don't care what happens to the Kage of the village and more often than not you end up trying to destroy it. When you slash your own headband, you can't simply return to the way you were. Questions will be asked and it's the kind of questions I can't answer."

"Why?" Konohamaru whispered very quietly. "Why did you do it?" He handed the headband back just as carefully as he'd taken it.

"Like I told your Hokage, I was an orphan with a team that hated me and a sensei who didn't care. What did I have to stay for? Anything I ever accomplished was never acknowledged. My one true precious person was killed and the other precious person hurt me beyond what I can forgive right now. Perhaps, some day, with time, I will be able to forgive but by then I imagine it'll be far too late." Menma explained with a sad smile.

"That doesn't seem like a very good reason to me." Konohamaru huffed, looking away.

"What if Naruto walked up to you right now and told you that you'd never be Hokage? It's not the same and it's something that can be easily ignored if said by some random person who you don't really care about either way . . . . . but said by _Naruto_? What then?" Menma countered.

Konohamaru didn't answer but he didn't have to. Menma saw his shoulders stiffen and that was answer enough.

"Still, I say you should stay. When the Akatsuki are dealt with I think you should stay." Konohamaru said very quietly.

"It's not that easy kiddo. I've gone too far down a path that doesn't have any way back. I've walked into the darkness willingly, knowing that there wasn't anyone to pull me back in time to save me. I just hope that you don't follow me. So I'll say this, Konohamaru, give up on Naruto. I know things about him that you do not. Be happy and strive to be Hokage. Pass on your secrets to the next generation before you die and always, always, remember to protect your precious people." Menma had said it very quietly and right in the chunin's ear so that he was the only one that could hear it.

"I'll never give up." Konohamaru's voice was strained with the pain of holding back his tears. "Never. . . I'd ask you to tell me about Naruto but I know that you won't. Just please, tell me he's okay?"

"I don't know. It's been far too long for me to be certain." Menma replied, watching the Sarutobi struggle to remain strong.

An arm wiped the few tears that had managed to escape away from his face and he managed to gain some semblance of control. "I don't need you to help me with learning how to use the sword." Konohamaru sniffed. "An ANBU already offered."

Ah, so they wanted to monitor his growth from now on. Would they try to restrict him or would they push him higher? He hoped for the boy's sake that it was the latter.

He couldn't help but feel that Konohamaru had accepted the offer as a way of distancing himself from Menma and that, surprisingly, hurt. He knew the boy had accepted the offer because he'd mentioned it and would not have done so if he had not. But wasn't that the plan? Hadn't it always been the boy's goal to get the Leaf to train the next generation of Shinobi?

Now that plan had been achieved. He should be happy . . . but he wasn't. Not really.

"_I think you should stay."_

Squeezing his eyes shut, Menma breathed in deeply. If only it were that easy . . .

* * *

"**Sorry to interrupt your holiday but we seem to have an intruder."** Kyuubi growled indifferently from his spot in the darkness, showing that he wasn't sorry at all.

Menma ignored the fox . . . mostly. His words were cause for some concern but he was reflecting on his conversation with Konohamaru. He'd revealed far too damn much. He'd even given away the fact that he knew something about Naruto! How could he have been so stupid?! Not to mention the emotions he'd been feeling.

It had been right there, in that moment, where he'd felt his first stirrings of regret. NO! He had a plan damn it!

He could not afford to feel regret but it was all too late. This had already happened and he could do nothing to change it. His only comfort was the fact that he was being interrogated so that had to mean he had stuck to the plan, not really the interrogation part but the making Sasuke suffer part. That had to have happened.

However, that would have to wait for later. He had an intruder to take care of.

* * *

Ino had never hated her last name more than she did right in that moment. As a Yamanaka and the daughter of Inoichi Yamanaka, she had no choice but to follow in his footsteps as the mind interrogation specialist. She would follow in his footsteps of working closely with Ibiki and Anko and she would have no choice.

Not that she didn't mind. On the contrary she found this line of work utterly fascinating, but there was just something about invading another's mind that sent shivers down her spine. It was just so unnatural, even for a Yamanaka.

This mind in particular made her more than uneasy. It was terrifying to know that she was expected to enter the mind of the renowned assassin known to the world only as the Kage. To think that he'd been here in the Leaf for the past little while without them knowing about it was actually horrifying.

She certainly didn't envy Sakura for having ended up with the psycho on her team.

. . . .but Sakura didn't seem traumatised at all. In fact she'd looked utterly miserable when they'd returned to the village, dragging the limp form of the new teammate with them. Sasuke hadn't said a single word, but that was translated to Sasuke was pissed as hell and Kakashi, well he'd personally handed the kid over to Ibiki.

She still didn't know what had happened but she knew that he'd betrayed his team and in Konoha, that simply didn't happen. Not if you wished to see the next day.

With that in mind she steeled herself and opened her eyes, now in the mind of another.

Looking around she saw nothing but black. Ah, the Void. The place before the mindscape. Usually the Void was a good indication of a ninja's moral compass. The place would usually be filled with shadows. The more there were the less they cared, about anything really. It wasn't a good way to see what they cared about. You couldn't learn much more from the shadows other than that.

But she'd never seen total blackness before. She hadn't even heard about it. So what did that mean?

Unless she wasn't actually in his mind yet and he was somehow aware of her presence. She had approached a still form of a near broken Shinobi, thanks to Sasuke's genjutsu and had been asked to assess the condition of his mind. Her father thought it would be good practise, even if he had said it through clenched teeth.

_I'll make you proud daddy._

So she started to walk. Most thought that a mind would open up to a room or something simple that had objects in it that reflected what you needed to know. Others, ones with more intelligence or slightly less imagination, thought that the mind was like a filing system or a library where everything you needed was all stacked around you, kept in neat and organised piles and all you had to do was find the right memory or thought. Others figured that all you had to do was be able to hear their thoughts and you were golden.

But nothing was ever that simple. It was a delicate process and dangerous too.

A mind reflected the person. So if they were someone like Choji, they'd find his clan home, with his mom cooking dinner, his father sitting outside with him, simply talking and Shikamaru gazing at clouds with a soft smile on his face. There would be an image of the Hokage Monument in the distance to signify loyalties to Konoha and there would be some ninja weapons lying around to signify that he was a Shinobi. Choji was simple and liked things simple. That was his world.

People like Ino and Asuma sensei would be represented as passing guests to that little world, important to Choji but not quite the same as Shikamaru.

Sure there would be the dusty corner or two or the locked door which held the parts of Choji that weren't so simple and gentle. Like his issue with the word fat. That would be the one locked behind the door. He hated the word because him being fat was what most the kids had teased him about. But it was also the thing that had bought him closer to Shikamaru.

She only knew all this because Choji had allowed her to practise on himself when she'd gone to him in tears when she was still a genin. She'd failed at a test her father had set up for her and while the older Shinobi hadn't said a word, she'd seen the dulling of his eyes that meant disappointment, heard the heavy sigh before he'd forced a smile on his face and told her to try again next time.

Now a mind like Sasuke's or even Kakashi sensei's were ones she'd never had the opportunity to examine and privately wished she never would.

"You shouldn't be here."

Ino spun around and came face to face with something that shouldn't happen in a person's mind . . . unless they were not normal: a manifestation of the person themselves.

The person she was facing was the one she'd come to know as Menma. His chestnut eyes were staring at her with concern, an odd gleam reflected off the earrings he sometimes wore. Where the light was coming from was beyond her but the mind never followed the normal rules. Anything could happen.

"Neither should you." Ino replied, keeping her calm.

"That's neither here nor there, but you should leave before_ he_ finds you." Menma shrugged, his eyes looking away before returning to her with a burning certainty.

"He? But isn't this your mind?" Ino ignored the warning. Many Shinobi had safeguards and this was a very simplistic form of one - warnings against an unseen enemy to induce fear; to cloud your judgement.

A shrug before a reply, "It is but it isn't."

"It's my mind too."

This time the person that stepped out of the darkness was the one Konohamaru had transformed into for Jiraiya the first night that he'd returned. He looked like Menma but he was wearing a large blue hoodie, far too thick for the weather with shades covering his eyes.

"And it's their mind. It's ours." The new Shinobi elaborated.

"You can call him Nin." Menma clarified, probably sensing her confusion.

"As in Konohamaru's Nin-sensei?" Ino asked.

"Yes. I'm more adept at keeping my mouth shut, unlike Menma. He's the reason you're here in the first place. He's too fucking sentimental, gave away too damn much. At this rate they'll figure out who I am."

I . . . the first important singular pronoun she'd heard them use. It was a step in the right direction. Just because of that single word she knew that these were nothing more than extensions of a single mind, probably a shattered one.

Sometimes, more often than one would think, a mind would break in a very literal sense. There would be more than one personality and they'd swap and change like clothing items. There never were very many. She'd heard of three at most.

How many were there in Menma's mind and who was the real one? There was always a dominant one, or in some cases an original one, the one that got pushed aside due to being too weak to fight. The one that had shattered.

Would she be able to piece together this Shinobi's fractured mind? That had probably been why they'd been able to learn nothing from him during interrogation so far. He'd simply retreated deep within his own mind and left his body on 'autopilot' in a sense. A very difficult skill to master and one he probably possessed only because of his fractured psyche.

"So how many are there of you?" Ino asked.

"There's me, Nin, _him_ and the other us. I suppose the rest don't matter since they don't really walk and talk like we do. They're just masks for the mission." Menma replied.

Four interchangeable personalities and so far she liked Menma. So it seemed his little comrade charade hadn't been totally fake. It had simply been a different part of the whole. Nin, judging by his aloof stance, his mostly hidden appearance and his speech patterns, it was safe to say that he was a jerk or a really difficult person to be around unless handled just right. Poor Konohamaru.

Then there was a personality that received a higher status, or a more active role. Well one that was certainly enough to worry his other personalities leading the blonde Yamanaka to conclude he'd been created for the sole purpose of doing the jobs that none of the others would or perhaps even _could_.

She didn't know enough about this fourth one to make any conclusions.

"Does that _other _one of us even count?" Nin asked, his tone indicating a frown and even a sneer. No respect.

"I don't . . . actually know. Does he?" Menma asked.

Ah, so this was probably the original. The one too weak to make a true appearance.

"Why wouldn't he? He either does or doesn't?" Ino asked, seeing an opportunity.

"Well, he's different from us. He looks different for one thing." Menma began.

"Quiet you fool! You're giving away information about _that_." Nin snapped.

There were a lot of hidden meanings in this conversation. Ino was starting to get a headache.

Suddenly the two in front of her stiffened. "You should leave now." Menma told her, his tone gravely serious.

"Well, well, well. Ino Yamanaka. Been a while." Footsteps greeted her before the person came into view.

Neither of the other two had done that so that probably meant this was a more assertive person, more aggressive. He came into view more slowly as well, the shadows lingering on his features as though caressing him. The others had come into view rather quickly, but this one was almost a part of the shadows till he was standing directly in front of her, and even then it was as though his face had a backlight. One thing was very prominent, the gleam of red that flickered in his eyes when the non-existent light caught them.

Slowly the shadows left his face just enough for her to see that he was a mix of both Menma and Nin. He wore the blue hoodie with the hood pushed down. His hands were buried in the pockets yet that didn't make her feel any better - he just had this presence about him that made her want to shiver. On his forehead, unlike Menma and more like Nin, was the slashed Konoha headband. Menma appeared to have been a personality that had either been created for the specific purpose of being on Team 7 or he was the one that had been chosen to adapt to the role. His loyalties appeared to be the most likely to waver into their favour. That was a vital piece of information.

"So who are you supposed to be?" Ino asked. "And why do you say my name like you know me?"

In reply the new personality tapped his headband. "I'm from Konoha remember, and I'm the one known as the Kage."

So that made sense with the shadows then.

She didn't have any more time to figure it out. The Kage personality disappeared before reappearing behind her with a kunai pressed to her throat. If she wasn't careful she could die in here and that thought was seriously not appealing in the least. Hell, she was too pretty to die in here.

"You used to be so much more annoying. I think growing up suits you." He whispered in her ear.

"I didn't have a choice." Ino whispered back, thoughts of the aftermath of Naruto's desertion circulating in her mind.

"Uh, the Jinchuriki. No matter. You're here to figure me out. Have you done it yet?"

Me. Same as I. So this personality was closer to the original then the other two. One of the first to be created.

"See, Nin is Menma's disguise. Or perhaps it's the other way around. It's why Nin doesn't talk much. He's the Face personality. The one we show the world when we're not me."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ino asked keeping very still.

"Well, I'm feeling generous, oddly enough. Must be Menma. See he's my disguise. The one that hides me while hiding underneath Nin. That's makes Nin a sort of go between doesn't it? . . . But then again isn't that the job of the Face?"

"Then what is Menma if Nin is the Face?"

"I dunno. I'd say he's the Sucker but that's like insulting myself. So I think I'll stick with Glue. He's the one that's holding us all together. We figured out a long time ago that without a sentimental idiot, we can't exist so Menma is Glue. And before you ask, I'm the Enforcer. I get things done. Most of the things I do are the things the others can't."

"Enough!"

Another voice! Was she going to meet all of them? That would make this the luckiest day of her life.

"Uh oh. You made him mad." Menma said in a low cautious tone.

"Line up, all of you. Kage put the kunai down. If you kill her then they'll retaliate. That won't do well for the plan."

"But she knows too much." Kage argued back, yet dropping the kunai and moving over to the others nonetheless. Seemed he'd only been generous at all was because he'd been planning on killing her. It was a relief to know that someone in here actually controlled the others. That someone was probably closest to the original personality.

"Well if someone had been doing a better job she wouldn't have gotten this far in the first place."

No matter where she looked, all she saw was darkness. The new voice was not about to show itself. Perhaps it had figured out that she knew things just from their outward appearance. Too bad. She still learnt things without having to see it, but not quite as much.

"You should leave, Ino Yamanaka, while I'm still in the mood to ask nicely."

Something about that statement made her blood run colder than when the Kage had showed up. Was he was the one that had Menma so scared the first time? Or was it the Kage? She couldn't be certain.

"But before you leave; get out when we start laughing and the situation isn't funny."

"Ah yes. _That_." Whatever _that_ was, the Kage didn't like it one bit.

"You really think we'll revert back to that?" Nin asked, his tone indicating a frown.

"It's possible. After all, that is what we all are. We're just covering it up." Menma replied with a sad sigh.

Ino could already feel herself being politely shoved from Menma's mind, only who was in control now? She hoped for their sake it was Menma or even Nin.

_Get out when we start laughing and the situation isn't funny._

They'd all seemed to agree with that one thing and had felt the need to warn her of its possibility. It was possibly a situation that even they wanted to avoid.

"Ino? Come on Ino, come back to us." Her father's calm soothing tone sunk into her mind like a balm, making her realise just how much it was hurting.

"Arg. That was . . . different." Ino muttered feeling her father rubbing the back of her neck. He knew what she was feeling right now better than anyone else because he'd experienced it far too often himself.

"You back with us honey?" he asked carefully.

"Yeah. He kicked me out." Ino replied.

"You've been gone for hours." Sasuke's toneless drawl informed her.

"I have? Didn't feel that long while I was in there. Man, I'm stiff." Ino replied questioningly.

"I don't think Kakashi minded much. Gave him time to work on that thing of his." Ibiki sighed.

"So, what's the report?" Inoichi pressed, getting to the issue.

"As a whole, he's completely nuts. However, deeper in, it's . . . . . different. I didn't even get past the Void. He, _they_, came to me. Probably to keep me away from the Original." Ino replied. Her father would understand and he'd have to break it down for the others.

"How many are there?" Inoichi asked while Sasuke shifted in impatience showing his lack of understanding and his displeasure because of it.

"Possibly five but there could be more, smaller and less important ones." Ino replied scrunching up her nose.

"How many do we have to worry about?"

"Uhm, maybe two. One of the five is the Original and he appears to be the weak kind, too weak to even take control. Perhaps he doesn't want to. I can't be sure because I never saw him. The Void was completely black. Could've been a defense. So I might not have even made it to the Void at all. Or due to the different personalities I was in a sort of halfway place, where they live or something." Ino replied.

"You've come a long way Ino." Inoichi praised as well as smiled. "What else can you tell me?"

"Three of them showed themselves, while a fourth, the one in charge by the looks of things, kept his distance. All of them are completely different from each other yet they all agreed on one thing. We should watch out for when he starts laughing and the situation isn't funny."

"Okay, how would you distinguish the personalities from each other? This is very important Ino."

Ino closed her eyes to try and find a way to word it. "Menma, is the one that will be more talkative and the one that is more likely to change loyalties to Konoha. Nin is silent, yet rude, his speech pattern very crass. Kage, makes you feel like you're about to die and the fourth one is confident. Very confident and he's intelligent."

"So they've named themselves. Convenient." Inoichi muttered.

"They even have secondary names; the Face they show the world; the Glue that keeps them all together; the Enforcer to do what the others cannot, and the last one I didn't get to find out." Ino added.

"So that indicates purpose. It's not just a shattered mind. No, it's a sectioned one. He's split his mind to deal with the different aspects of himself. He's at odds with what he wants and who he is. Perhaps that means he doesn't want to hurt the Leaf but he can't let go of something and he wants retribution for it." Inoichi muttered. "Okay Ino, you're going to go in there and find out who's in charge for the moment. After that you're coming out and we're going to break down and discuss everything you saw and heard. Then we need to write up a report to give to the others. We have to move quickly. The ANBU are getting tired, and soon we'll have to ask the Jonin to take over from the ANBU. He's got far too damn much chakra."

"Hai." Ino got up from the chair and went to the door.

"Be careful." Inoichi whispered very quietly, probably not meant to be heard but she heard it all the same.

Walking into the dimly lit room wasn't as scary as the first time. The odd yet beautiful glow of the seals on the floor keeping the boy on the rack restrained made her feel mixed things and she didn't really want to analyse those feelings.

His eyes were closed and his breathing was even, yet if he were truly asleep the ANBU would've woken him up by now. Sleep was not something they would want to give him since that would help him regenerate chakra.

She took in his exposed chest, noting the burn that she'd seen only briefly when she'd first met him. There were other scars that only just caught the dim light. Even though the temperature in the room was relatively cool there was a fine sheen of perspiration coating his body. This was probably due to the slow extraction of his chakra. She wondered just how much longer he could hold onto the little bit that he had left. It couldn't be doing him or the ANBU any good.

"Back so soon?" A hoarse voice chuckled.

"Only to find out who's in charge right now." Ino replied.

"Come closer and I'll tell you. This talking at an audible level thing hurts."

Ino hesitated. He was restrained right? So it wouldn't hurt. Stepping closer to him made her heart race in excitement but it wasn't the good kind.

"You didn't find out the role of the other one, did you? He's the Planner. The Thinker if you will. He's the one that's in charge overall, if that makes sense." He started, his voice notably less hoarse but still strained. Just from that statement alone could she conclude that this was the Kage. Shit. But she had to be a hundred percent sure.

Suddenly there was a spark of chakra and his arm shot out, wrapping around her neck and pulling her closer. He wasn't hurting her, but he could. Ino's eyes widened in utter shock as he pulled her closer still and pressed his lips to hers, surprisingly gentle. She'd say hesitant but there was nothing hesitant about this person.

Just as suddenly as he'd done it, he let her go."Hmm, not what I expected. Perhaps it was the exhaustion creeping in that's making a difference."

Ino was gasping, her father's arms wrapped around her as he'd pulled her back. Sasuke had drawn his sword and pressed it to the Kage's throat, but he didn't appear too concerned about it.

"However, it was worth the chakra it took to do it."

How had her father and Sasuke gotten into the room so fast? Oh hell, she didn't care. They were here and that's all that mattered. She sank into her father's embrace taking comfort in his mere presence.

"Perhaps I should try Sakura, or even Hinata. I believe they'll both be fun." He continued, ignoring everyone in the room as an ANBU reattached the restraint on his arm. He appeared to have been genuinely curious as to what a kiss was like. How odd.

"Do you ever shut up?" Sasuke hissed, his gaze travelling to Ino before he replace his sword.

"Be careful Sasuke, it's one of the ones we have to worry about." Ino said quietly. "Let's go write up that report, Dad." She added, pulling away from her father and walking out of the room.

* * *

Ah, time to go back into those memories. Things were going as well as could be expected when one was missing an unknown amount of time from their memories and were strapped down in the ANBU basement.

Landing in his mindscape was far too easy but he wasn't complaining.

"Alright fox, let's get back to it." His statement was only replied with by the swarming of red chakra towards him. Oh well. It's not like he enjoyed talking to the Kyuubi.

* * *

One of the clones was walking towards the bridge Team 7 had used to meet at. He'd wanted to ascertain something by coming here after talking to Konohamaru. He'd wanted to get rid of those feelings. The ones that were telling him to go to Tsunade and tell her everything, to stay, as Konohamaru had asked.

He walked slowly over the bridge, letting the fact that he was _here_, standing on the very bridge that he'd stood on so many times before sink in. A memory, not a particularly important one, niggled on the edges of his mind and he let it consume his thoughts, feeding his desire to not feel what Konohamaru wanted him to feel.

"_HAY! Sasuke, look at me!" Naruto yelled waving his arms above his head as he stood on the trunk of the tree, not moving at all and simply standing upside down on the branch._

"_Big deal Naruto. So you're standing on a tree. Why do you always have to be such a loser? I did that weeks ago." Sasuke drawled not even turning to look at the accomplishment that Naruto had spent days practising. As a ninja with little to no chakra control he was immensely proud of this feat. He'd managed to actually stay on the tree rather than fall off the tree after a few seconds._

"_Yeah Naruto. Why do you have to be so annoying?" Sakura huffed, always quick to agree with Sasuke._

"_But Sakura, I was just trying to show you guys how much better I've gotten." Naruto whined back._

"_Just give it up Naruto. No one cares." Sasuke almost snapped, but snapping would mean he'd be showing some sort of emotions and that simply would not do._

_At that moment Naruto's concentration failed and he fell from the tree, hitting his head rather painfully. Sasuke snorted, the closest he'd get to laughing and Sakura laughed outright. "Yeah Naruto, that's what you get for trying to outdo Sasuke. He's so amazing and you're just the dead last."_

_In the bushes Naruto sniffed quietly to himself, trying to hold back the tears. "But I just wanted you to see how much I've been practising." He whispered to no one in particular._

"Oh, looks like someone is already here." A new cheerful voice stated, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Menma turned to see a pale boy around his age, dark almost dull eyes stared back at him, framed by dark locks of hair much like his own and Sasuke's. He was instantly wary of this newcomer. He had a dangerous air about him, even as he smiled. It was a smile of a predator that wanted to dress up as the proverbial sheep but wasn't quite managing it. What was he playing at and just who was he?

"Would you mind if I sat here a while? I'm Sai by the way." 'Sai' asked gesturing to the bridge.

"Hay, what do I care? It's not my bridge. I was just going over my shopping list." Menma shrugged with a grin that was as fake as Sai's smile.

Sai hopped up onto the railing and swung his legs over the edge so that he could sit down. He then pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil.

"So you're an artist." Menma commented.

"Well I draw things, if that makes me an artist then I guess I am." Sai replied thoughtfully.

"So you a ninja?" Menma asked but he already knew the answer. It was in the way Sai walked and acted. This guy wasn't only a Shinobi, he was a good one. The funny thing was, he'd never seen the kid before in his life.

Then again he hadn't been the most attentive person when he was younger.

"Yes, but it's my day off." Sai replied, focusing his gaze on the landscape so that he could draw it.

"I didn't know ninja had days off." Menma smirked.

"Well I don't have any missions scheduled for today. Does that count?" Sai paused in his drawing to consider this possibility.

"I guess it does." Menma replied. "So that makes it my day off too."

"Are you a good ninja? Being placed on Team 7 is quite the accomplishment." Sai asked as well as complimented.

"I dunno, you tell me. If you ask me, Team 7 is overrated, but they have their advantages." Menma shrugged, turning away from Sai and resting his elbows on the railing. He turned his head up to stare at the sky, watching the clouds move across the endless blue.

"I know a lot of ninja who'd disagree with you. Heck, I'd even kill to get placed on that team." Sai muttered, seeming to be getting more and more absorbed in his drawing.

"Well I'm just there for an upcoming mission. I'm not permanent but I imagine they'll try to change that." Menma changed the direction of his gaze so that he was staring at the ground.

"You place yourself in a very high regard." Sai noted.

"No. I just know my own limits. Any good Shinobi does, but I must go now for I have many things to do. It was nice to meet you Sai."

"Hmm, yes perhaps next time we can see if you have any balls or not." Sai replied, his fake smile beaming.

Menma merely raised an eyebrow before dissipating in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Elsewhere, the original Menma snorted as the clone's memories flooded his mind. Some people were too weird. So Konohamaru didn't need him as a teacher and there was an unknown ninja who was an artist and had a fake smile. That was interesting.

Menma was perched on a branch, his position giving him a direct line of sight to a certain chunin sensei's classroom. He'd just finished a training drill set by Kakashi and it had turned into a competition between him and Sasuke. Man, some things just never changed.

As it was, it was nearing the end of the day, Iruka giving his class one last lecture. He seemed to really be lacking his usual gusto that was for sure. What had happened to the Shinobi that had constantly come up with new ideas and ways to teach his students?

It didn't matter. This was the reason he'd left. This man had been the last straw in a long line of straws. Those words . . . they still burned. They licked at him, burning hotter and hotter, leaving nothing but pain behind.

. . . . . and it seemed he wasn't the only one that had suffered. Iruka appeared to be burning too. But that made no sense. He wasn't supposed to feel pain. It made complications to his plan. His victory wouldn't be as sweet if they were all already suffering just because he'd left. This was not going well.

Menma was far too good at keeping his composure to jump when Iruka suddenly appeared in the window and yelled up at him. "Are you going to stay up there all day or are you going to come in?"

Menma hesitated. What was he supposed to say to the other Shinobi? He hadn't wanted to speak to Iruka for years. In fact, Iruka wasn't even a part of his plan. He was simply a victim of the situation.

Climbing through the window made some of the students giggle and Iruka sighed. "There is a door you know."

"Shinobi rule 101, never use the door. Even windows are slightly frowned upon." Menma pouted back all innocently.

One particularly studious fellow yelled out that that wasn't in the Shinobi rules anywhere. Menma sighed, choosing to ignore him.

"Since you're here, you can help me teach today's last lesson. The advantages of a henge." Iruka stated, his eyes never staying from the students. "And I'm glad you're feeling better today." He added with a small guilty smile.

"Henge? I don't know about the advantages of a henge, Iruka-sensei." Menma grinned back, ignoring the last statement, "I mean other than the fact that I'm using one right now. I mean for all you know I could be naked, but because I'm using a henge you wouldn't know."

"Menma!" Iruka spluttered finally getting some life into his eyes. Ah that was sooo much better. The chunin sensei hadn't looked right with eyes so dead; they needed to sparkle, even if it was in anger.

"Relax, relax. I'm only kidding." Menma said hurriedly while the students laughed. "But on a serious note, a henge if done correctly can help with infiltration and not getting detected. And I suppose you can add running away to that list as well. I mean if you look like this the one minute," Here he paused to gesture at himself, "but look like this after ducking into an alley or something," He paused again to place his hands together and change into a female form, one that was appropriately dressed. "You can get away from the enemy if they're dumb enough."

"Wow that is sooo cool. Hay Iruka sensei, why don't you teach us henges like that." One child asked pointing at the still female form of Menma.

"Don't blame Iruka-sensei. It's all up to you. Firstly to change into a person that's naturally different from you, you have to do a lot of research in order to make it look right. It's up to you and your imagination if you want to look better than average, but sometimes average works too if you're looking to go below the radar." Menma interrupted and saved Iruka from spluttering out an explanation. His voice was at a higher pitch and his eyes were several times larger.

This time there was a cloud of smoke as he dropped the henge.

"Now sometimes, if you're really good at being a ninja, you can use the henge to hurt others." Menma whispered like it was a great secret.

"Hurt others with an illusion?" One child asked.

"You don't hurt them physically, but somewhere deeper, somewhere that hurts a lot more than a kunai wound." Menma nodded his head sagely.

By the confused looks on the students faces he figured they weren't getting it.

"Ah, let's take Iruka-sensei for example. Not that we're going to hurt Iruka. I'm just going to show you how I'd learn what I needed in order to do it, if that's alright with Iruka." Menma turned to the teacher who nodded, his face just as confused as his students.

Menma walked over to Iruka's desk and sat down. "Now you go through their stuff. See what they have and how they live. Iruka's desk is very organised which means he probably isn't a very patient person. Everything has a place, which indicates that he likes being in control. He likes to know what's happened and where. Comfort zones. There also isn't anything immediately personal on the desk so that means either too many students have stolen or sabotaged personal belongings of him or he's following Shinobi instincts and keeping everything that could possible hurt him at a distance from the wrong eyes." Menma started, getting some amazed gasps as well as the undivided attention of every individual in the classroom, including Iruka.

"The things in the drawers however are a different story. Inside, they're messy, completely without structure and even with broken objects. This could mean many things, like Iruka likes to appear to be in control but in reality is very laid back and relaxed. He doesn't mind dressing in comfortable clothes on the weekend while he props bare feet up on the table and lazes the day away. But this would contradict the top of the table and Iruka's outward appearance. The sensei clearly likes order and is even more obviously concerned about appearances. Do you see how tightly he ties his hair? So then that forces us to conclude that our loveable sensei is in fact a very sad person."

Lonely, crushed, completely destroyed emotionally. You couldn't tell that to kids though.

"However, even if they are in disarray the drawers still do not hold anything that could be considered personal or of sentimental value. This bottom drawer is locked, meaning it holds something special, something personal. I'm not going to open it, the sensei deserves his privacy." Menma had already opened it, glimpsing a photograph inside; the one where Iruka had taken Naruto to Ichiraku's after his very first mission. Both of them were grinning like fools at the camera, Iruka's arms around Naruto's shoulders. There was a child's depiction of the Hokage Monument with the slight difference of a grinning blond added as the fifth, rather than Tsunade's head. Under it was a name and an arrow pointing upwards as though it could be confused for anybody else. _Naruto Uzumaki_. Hell, the chunin had even kept the rock Naruto had given him, stating that it was an awesome shape. Underneath all of that was a bright orange and blue jacket with the Uzumaki clan symbol on the side. Iruka had kept his jumpsuits.

"Well students it appears to be home time. Tonight I want you all to practise your henges for tomorrow." Iruka stated, clearing his throat.

A chorus of awwww filled the classroom, mixing in with the scrapes from the chairs. Iruka walked over to him, looking slightly unsure of himself.

"Uhm, thanks for not telling the kids everything."

"It wasn't my place to." Menma shrugged, getting to his feet. "Besides it would serve no purpose to traumatise them with the workings of the Shinobi world."

Iruka was silent as he stared at the bottom drawer. When he looked up, his face was troubled. "Could you really hurt a person with a henge?"

"Sure I can." Menma placed his fingers together not henging just yet, "It depends on how much you know of the person you're trying to hurt." A puff of smoke covered him from view and when it cleared he was a younger version of himself orange jumpsuit and everything. Iruka's mouth was flopping open and closed, like he was trying to say something but the words just weren't coming out.

"Everything's going to be okay, sensei." Menma said with a grin, arms moving behind his head. His voice was that of his younger self's and it only further added to the illusion.

A single tear escaped Iruka's eyes before he was blinking them away with a strained and watery smile. "Ah, I see now. It's useful for interrogations I suppose."

Menma dropped the henge before clasping the chunin on the shoulder, "I meant what I said, everything is going to be okay."

Then Menma left, leaving the chunin to collect his thoughts.

* * *

Outside, perched on the same branch that Menma had been on earlier, Sasuke watched with blood red eyes. The fact that Iruka knew something about Naruto's disappearance had just been confirmed. He and Kakashi would be visiting the chunin very soon.

The fact that Iruka was from the Leaf only meant one thing to Sasuke, he'd get a _nice _conversation rather than the usual interrogation.

Sasuke leapt off the branch and headed to find Kakashi.

* * *

Later that night at the Uchiha compound, Menma was scarfing down take out ramen like there was no tomorrow. "You sure you don't want some?" he offered the glaring Uchiha who just huffed and looked away.

Menma shrugged, continuing his personal mission to eat as much as he could and fast as he could. Perhaps he could break his record.

"I'm going out later. I trust you won't try anything." Sasuke deadpanned.

"Trust? Puh-lease, you don't even know the meaning of the word. But yeah, me and my shadow clones will stay put. After all I still need to help out Gaara and getting into trouble isn't going to help me out very much now is it?" Menma assured the indifferent Uchiha.

When Menma had finished his ramen, which wasn't all that much later, he walked over to where Sasuke was and sat down next to him. Looking out he could see the whole of the Uchiha compound, and he understood the other's silent brooding.

"You know, I don't think I'd be able to bounce back after having watched my brother slaughter my entire clan." Menma murmured very quietly.

Beside him Sasuke stiffened. Menma was treading on thin ice here. "Knowing he was out there, would probably drive me absolutely crazy." Menma continued, his tone thoughtful.

Sasuke was on his feet in an instant. "Don't make comments on that which you know nothing about." He hissed before the slamming of his door announced where he was currently.

Sasuke didn't leave until the ungodly hours of the night and Menma couldn't help but wonder where he was going.

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked, standing on a rooftop, yet in the shadow of another building.

"Positive. I've had my suspicions for a while now but not really any proof nor much time to check it out. Today you could almost taste the guilt it was so heavy." Sasuke replied.

"Well then, let's go visit our favourite chunin sensei." Kakashi's voice had grown emotionless. He was officially focused on the mission.

The two leaped across the buildings, sticking to the shadows as not to alarm the night guards. Explaining, rather lying about what they were doing would not be hard but it wasn't something they wanted to do either.

Kakashi went first, picking locks and disabling wards far too easily. How many times had Kakashi done this? Many, not to Iruka's apartment but to others, but only his intentions weren't necessarily to simply talk as they were tonight.

Sasuke shook the thoughts from his mind, focusing instead on their objective. After Kakashi entered like a silent shadow, Sasuke waited. After a heartbeat of time that had felt like eternity, Kakashi poked his head back out of the window and gave him the go ahead but with an indication to be quiet.

Entering the apartment Sasuke noted that they'd managed to pick the bedroom window. Lucky them.

Iruka was sound asleep, unlucky him, breathing almost evenly, completely unaware of the night he was about to have. Pulling out a kunai that caught the moonlight Sasuke approached the chunin with blood red eyes.

Iruka's startled gaze met his as the kunai was pressed to his throat. "Hello, sensei. I think it's time we had a little chat." Kakashi stated, rather too cheerfully for the situation.

Iruka gulped, his eyes travelling from Sasuke to Kakashi, trying desperately to think of something, _anything_, to say that would help him in this situation.

A light was switched on making Iruka squint. Kakashi disappeared for a moment only to return with a chair, one he sat down in rather sloppily. "I think you can remove the kunai now Sasuke." He commented calmly and Sasuke obeyed.

Iruka sat up and blinked owlishly as his fellow Konoha Shinobi. What the hell was going on?

"I think, Iruka, it's time you told me what you know about Naruto." Kakashi smiled at the sensei.

"Naruto? I don't know anything more than you do." Iruka almost stuttered but somehow managed to keep his cool.

"Don't lie to me." Sasuke growled.

"He's really not in the mood for it." Kakashi added, his grin widening.

Iruka's eyes flickered from Sasuke to Kakashi, back and forth as his mind tried to figure out what to say or do. This really wasn't a situation he could successfully handle. Kakashi sighed, as though sensing his confusion and indecision. He stood up and walked over to the chunin sensei before sitting down next to him and saying very calmly and in a tone that was meant to sooth.

"We're not going to hurt you Iruka. We just want to find him. And I'm sure you do to."

Iruka's bottom lip was trembling now. He had been staring down the entire time but now, as he looked up at Kakashi his face screamed 'help me!'. Kakashi was taken aback at the depth of the emotions in the chunin's eyes. He'd known that Iruka was an emotional person but this was almost inhuman.

Iruka's hands suddenly shot out and clutched at his vest. "Oh Kakashi." He whimpered, scaring the living daylights out of the jonin. Kakashi awkwardly wrapped his arms around the chunin who'd started to sob into his vest. He shot Sasuke a 'help me' look but the Uchiha wasn't budging an inch. Traitor.

"I didn't mean to I swear. I really didn't _(hiccup)_ and I'm so so so sorry. _(Sob)_ I wish I could tell him that. _(Sniff)_ and by the time I realised what I'd done I_ (almost wail) _it's was too late!"

Kakashi suppressed the sigh. This was going to be a long, long, long night. This was so not his area. This is what they needed Sakura for but she was at home, sleeping peacefully, like they should've been. Oh the things he did for the blond idiot.

* * *

**I figured I should reply to some of those reviews. I've left it long enough so if you see your name, give it a squwizz. **

**Erydanes****:** Your review on chapter 2. I think I explained all the resources on one team. If I didn't or if I didn't do it well enough, give me a shout out and I'll try a little harder. Yes, it is sad that the possibility of Naruto being Nin isn't something any of them considered but we have to think in terms of story here. If they were immediately suspicious of Nin being Naruto then the story would be in a whole other direction. Now as for the direction it's currently taking, I for one have noticed that ninja tend to let things fly right over their heads sometimes. Also Naruto has specifically designed his disguise and mannerisms so that they do not relate back to him in any way what's so ever apart from the really little things he can't help that I'll be throwing in through the fic. Like the orange gloves he sometimes wears. No, they haven't forgotten Naruto, they're just trying not to think about him in a way that is painful.

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**TigrezzTail****: **Your reviews in general. I like Gaara and so naturally I will shove him into every story I write. Also, Naruto and Gaara are friends. In my story they help each other out in times of need. This relationship between them will be elaborated on as things are revealed. As for Konoha not raiding Konohamaru's mind, well they're not cruel. They've always been depicted as the loving and forgiving ninja village, so much so that Danzo believes it's harmful to their existence and that they need to be more firm. Now that doesn't mean the Leaf is weak and lets people walk all over them, hell no. They kick ass! Ah, yes Konohamaru is leading them around but poor little Konohamaru is but a pawn in Naruto's greater plan. You know, the plan he keeps rambling to himself about. The barrier remained in place because it was based on a seal structure, much like the one used on the Akatsuki hideout when they took Gaara. Forgetting the headband is my version of progression. XD Let's face it, the truth had to come out somewhere along the line. As for the shadows, if Sai can use ink to teleport away, I can use shadows :P just like Shikamaru. No, Naruto doesn't willing drop the seal again but that doesn't mean it isn't going to feature in the story again. Mwhahaha. As for his disguise, he's really good at henges but as to how he got that way, that's a spoiler. I think. It involves his training. Never fear. Konoha actually has a legit reason for torturing Naruto. Honest. Well in my crazy mind they do.

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**Homarid****: **On your review to chapter 3. Sorry to disappoint on the desert combat. Truth be told, I suck at combat scenes. That was my way of getting out of that. Yes, this story is slightly delayed in comparison to the cannon but I felt that three years wasn't enough to really train Naruto. I wanted him to have a little more time to beef up so to speak. Oh and you notice my little crazy details. Ramen Gods bless you. : )

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**Lednacek****:**** See, see, see, I's changed my summary fors you. XD**

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**3ch0****:** Naruto left after going with Jiraiya to fetch Tsunade. All will make more sense, I think, after the reason he left is revealed.

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**Ninjalover-02****: **Yes, six months isn't a lot of time so factoring in the improvement level that the genin had during the one month training time before the third round of the chunin exams and comparing it to Naruto's three years of training with Jiraiya, factoring in some other stuff that's just too much to mention right now, like how Naruto trained and what he already knows, and you have Konohamaru's level. XD I don't really like characters that are invincible. They're no fun to right because they're supposed to be unbeatable and that's boring.

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**An Anonymous Gentleman****: **Your review to chapter 5. I just thought I'd let you know that I really liked your review. It was actually pretty insightful. ; )

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**Newbiegod35****: **Your review on chapter 7. Naruto is definitely more sadistic, sorry if it doesn't seem that way at first but that's infiltration for you. Naruto has a plan and he's sticking to it like ninja glue. As for Kakashi's plan, let's just say it's evil and it's not nice, not at all. He saw something about Naruto/Menma that he shouldn't have.

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**jayley****:** In general and to every other Shinobi, what Iruka said wouldn't never have been so devastating. But he said it to Naruto and so you have to consider it from that point of view. Now taking that into consideration, what do you think Iruka said? If you take a guess and if you get close enough I'll PM you the answer. XD

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**werd me****: As per requested, no drawing has been done. : ) **

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**Ppsh:** I hope I explained Naruto's burns in this chapter adequately. If not, send a shout out and I'll try again. As for Naruto. I'm trying to make the readers feel like Konoha. No one knows where he went, what he did nor why he left so that's what the readers feel to right? As for the genjutsu, let's see: Yes he was fighting with Sasuke, it was a memory which will be continued in this chapter and the next. Menma is going to recover his lost memories before acting, or rather *cough*, escaping. The genjutsu was used later, during the mission to rescue Gaara, you know that one they're supposed to be waiting for. Hope that helped.

**There, now I hope I got all of the questions. If not, tell me and I'll get back to you. **


	9. Chapter 9

******First thing's first, thanks to my both my Betas, ****TheGreatBubbaJ and Jenny-Cat-Miaow. They really do help guys so be patient with the updates. I've already finished chapter 10 and it's read to be sent to the Betas, so I'l post that as soon as it's done with our lovable helpers. **

**I know it's confusing right now but I'm hoping that everything will clear up as we go. As for the genjutsu, I've elaborated on it in this chapter and I hope that it's a little more helpful.**

**For those hoping for a little more insight into Iruka's actions. Sorry. I did not spill the beans here. Menma's memories finish up in Chapter 10 and in Chapter 11 things begin to heat up. **

**Love the reviews and I will answer them at the bottom of the chapter as best as I can.**

**Chapter 9**

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**Menma's memories.**

"Back already?"

Sasuke didn't even falter in his steps at Menma's voice coming from the deepest shadow in the small corridor of the house he'd taken up residence in.

"Meh, I suppose a game of cards is out of the question." Menma moved out of the shadows and Sasuke was forced to admit that the nickname of the Kage really did suit the other Shinobi as the place he had emerged from was not where Sasuke had guessed him to be.

"Perhaps tomorrow we can play at being ninja." Sasuke replied. His mind was too full of what Iruka had blubbered about for him to be social right now. He'd always suspected that the Umino had known more than he'd let on but without proof he had been reluctant to question his once upon a time sensei. He'd gotten his proof and he'd learnt that it wasn't so much that Iruka knew more than he'd let on, he'd simply known something that had made him feel so guilty that he hadn't seen it for the information that it was. A little clue, a small insight into the mind of Naruto Uzumaki and the reason as to why he left.

"_I wanted to tell him how sorry I was, but by the time I realised that I even had to, he was already gone." _

Squeezing his eyes shut in frustration, Sasuke wondered how all of them could've been so stupid.

* * *

Menma exited his room to see that Sasuke was waiting for him. "Tsunade has summoned us." Sasuke stated coolly.

Menma didn't reply. Instead he went to the door and walked out of it, taking off in the direction of the dango stand. He'd have preferred ramen, but if he started eating ramen all the time it would get far too suspicious. Curse his need to remain inconspicuous, or as inconspicuous as a nuke-nin with oodles of power could be. Sasuke went to his stupid sushi stand, ramen hating heathen that he is.

Sasuke's mood was once again composed today. Menma wondered what he'd done the previous night, since he'd returned with his emotions in complete turmoil. Something very unlike the Uchiha, who was usually utterly composed. But Menma'd stuck to what he'd said and hadn't left the Uchiha compound.

"We'd better hurry. If we take much longer Kakashi will beat us there and that'll look bad." Sasuke teleported away in a puff of smoke after that statement, still eating his sushi. Menma grumbled to himself as he accepted his dango servings before following the Uchiha via shadows.

Sakura jumped as Menma appeared behind her, taking a large syrupy bite of his first dango stick.

"Sasuke said you called?" he replied around the mouth full of food making the Fifth Hokage's eyebrow twitch dangerously.

"Yes. We're just waiting for Kakashi." Shizune replied as she noticed Tsunade wasn't about to, being too busy watching the syrup drip from Menma's dango.

Everything was silent after that apart from Menma and Sasuke eating their breakfast. "I take it you two just woke up." Sakura offered shifting uncomfortably under the heavy silence produced by her teammates eating and her teacher's unnerving fixation on the sticky liquid dripping from Menma's stick.

"Hmm? Mm, late night." Menma offered as an explanation and Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"Sasuke went out and I played with that stupid stick thing in the garden that makes the tapping noise. You know the one with the water. Fills up with water and then falls against a rock before lifting up and getting filled with water again." Menma continued.

"I used to throw pebbles at it." Sasuke commented, his eyes growing glazed before he shook his head once as though to dislodge the thought.

By the time Kakashi arrived Sasuke had challenged Menma to a test of his aim and the two were now throwing dango sticks at bits of rice flicked into the air. Sakura was trying really hard not to bang her head on the nearest flat and very much solid surface. This was the Hokage's office for crying out loud. Tsunade was watching the three with a growing tick in her forehead and the two males' actions only further motivated her current decision. Some people should just not be allowed to get bored.

"Alright, at attention you four." Tsunade snapped putting an end to Menma and Sasuke's little game. To be fair they had reached the last of their dango sticks anyway, so she wasn't really interrupting anything.

"I have a busy day today so I'm going to get right to the point. Team 7 can't just stop going on missions. It's too suspicious. So I'm going to send you out on a B-rank mission. Nothing too hectic, just something to keep up appearances." Tsunade announced.

"Why don't you just say what's really going on. The Leaf's budget will suffer if people find out that the most wanted team isn't going on missions." Sasuke drawled, internally miffed at the competition ending in a draw.

"Don't whine Sasuke. This is a chance to see how well we perform as a team. After all, it wouldn't do to be on the mission to rescue the Kazekage and find out that we can't work together at all." Kakashi commented cheerfully from behind his Icha Icha book. He didn't usually read his books in the Hokage's office, so Sasuke knew it was last night's conversation that was making the Jonin act out of sorts. Sasuke knew how he was feeling, but he just had his own way of hiding it that was non-pornographic.

Sasuke didn't reply to the statement but he had to admit that Kakashi did have a point. "So does that mean I'm doing this mission as Naruto?" Menma asked.

He silently prayed they said yes, just so that he could watch their faces as they tried to hide their discomfort. Only somehow those prayers weren't as feverish as they should've been, lacking the venom that would normally accompany the mental pleas.

"No." Sakura was the first one to answer, sounding a little hurried at that.

"Okey dokes. When do we leave?" Menma smiled, outwardly expressing carefree happiness, yet inwardly he was slightly disappointed.

"Now. Your mission is to gather information on a settlement on the outskirts of the Land of Rice Patties. You are not to be detected and you're to return in three days, understood?" Tsunade replied while Shizune gave Kakashi the mission scroll.

"Yes mam!" was echoed by four voices in unison.

"Get moving then. That information isn't going to gather itself."

The four members of Team 7 scattered out of various exits in the Hokage's office, coming out onto the roof of the Hokage Tower before heading off to the South gate. This was going to be a long mission. All information gathering missions were. Long and boring. Unless they were conducted by Jirayia, in which case they were long and hard. Ahem, difficult.

The first half of the trip was almost deathly silent as they leapt through the trees, sticking to a close formation. Menma noticed how even on such a relatively simple mission, the three members of Team 7 watched their surroundings as though expecting an attack to come at any moment.

Understandable really, since they were renowned for being one of the most ambushed teams in the Shinobi nations. Some people would grumble into their sake cups, hoping against hope to just kill one of them. Most aimed for Sakura, seeing her as the weakest on the team and Menma pitied them for that small piece of over sight.

Menma also noted how well the team worked together as just the three of them. It was almost as if having a fourth member was unnecessary to them. He almost felt like they were accommodating for him rather than working with him. It was an odd feeling and it bought back too many unwanted emotions.

"_You're such a loser." _

"_Yeah Naruto. Why do you always have to screw things up?"_

"_Now now guys, I'm sure Naruto had a perfectly good reason for rushing off like that, didn't you Naruto?" _

That had been an almost daily conversation. Sure Sasuke had worked with him but only when the situation had suited him to do so. He'd used Naruto's loud brashness to his advantage by attacking a distracted enemy, earning himself the glory. Finishing the battle in a way that he was the one that took down the enemy, but not without a little help from the team idiot. Something which no one seemed to realise.

They were forced to stay the night in an inn. Well forced wasn't really the right word. Just before they'd called it a night, Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke had seemed to have a private conversation amongst themselves. No words were exchanged, but Menma got the idea that a decision was reached all the same.

"Alright, time to stop. There's a Shinobi inn a few miles from here and we'll stop there for the night." Kakashi stated. Menma also got the impression that Kakashi, while appearing to be the team leader, was in fact only acting to be said team leader. Further observation told him that every decision made from what direction they took to when they stopped for breaks was made as a group and not by a single person. Odd, but strangely effective in a completely unconventional way.

He'd play their game for now, wondering what the mission report was going to look like and whether it would mention his sheer awesomeness shining through in the end.

Jumping out of the trees they landed on a small dirt path that led to the inn. Menma was quite comfortable with the silence, being far too used to not having anyone around to talk to other than himself to be bothered by it. But the other members of Team 7 seemed to be bursting to talk to each other, but kept subtly glancing at Menma.

Walking into the inn was an experience in itself and Menma was greatly amused by it. At first no one recognised the three members of Team 7 but then the pink hair from Sakura, the broody darkness coupled with the Uchiha clan symbol and Kakashi's signature… everything… registered in the minds of the Shinobi in the room and everything went quiet as the grave.

"Yo. I'd like two rooms for the night. Two separate beds in each please." Kakashi requested as he approached the front desk, his entire manner as friendly as it got. Well, minus a friendly facial expression.

The guy behind the desk looked at him with an expression that could rival Sasuke's in broodiness.

"Hatake. I thought I told you not to come around here anymore."

"Aww, but I wanted to impress the new team member." Kakashi mock pouted.

"Team 7 has a new member. Now that's something. What'd the poor sap do to piss the old broad off? Let them stay, just so that we can meet the sucker. Poor bastards never last long on Team 7." Menma looked to the voice and recognised it as one of the underground rats who was good for information and as cowardly as they came. One visit from him as the Kage had established that much.

"Fine Hatake, but this is the last time. Having you around is bad for business, and has given me diabetes as I just recently discovered."

Kakashi just smiled at the man before taking the two offered keys. "Now now, I'm sure it wasn't entirely my fault. Menma, you're with Sakura." He added casually over his shoulder.

"What?! No way! She's going to hit me unconscious. That's completely unfair." Menma protested, already dreading the coming bludgeoning.

"I won't hit you, so long as you behave." Sakura smiled sweetly.

"Why can't I stick with Sasuke? His cold, bastardly exterior is the perfect contrast to my warm and generally kind demeanour! You know, when I'm not brutally killing someone." Menma was getting frantic.

"Because it's inappropriate for the sensei to sleep in the same room as the opposite sex student. Far too many Icha Ichas made of that for it to be allowed." Kakashi replied as though this was perfectly reasonable.

"You know what screw you all, I'm getting my own room. I ain't getting clobbered tonight." Menma announced looking pointedly at the man behind the desk who wordlessly handed over a key. In between his statements he muttered about crazy jonin who didn't make any sense, since he'd sleep in a sleeping bag next to his student turn team member, but not in the same room as them. What, are hormones scared of the wilderness or something?

Truthfully Kakashi didn't want to get clobbered either. Sakura was long past the stage of respecting her sensei and didn't take kindly to him reading Icha Icha in her presence, even less when he did it out loud. Hence the clobbering, and now the bullshit excuse to avoid it.

"I feel hurt Menma." Sakura stated, but her tone lacked conviction. This was also an opportunity to see what had them so worked up. They were trying to talk to each other in a way that Menma wouldn't be able to decipher, but appeared to be having difficulty with this task and Menma was greatly amused by it.

"I~ don't~ care~." Menma replied in a near sing song tone pulling out his wallet to pay for said room.

Looking at his wallet he quickly shifted his body and arm so that it was hidden from view. He'd completely forgotten about Gama. The fat green frog burped out the correct amount, and Menma handed it over before stuffing the wallet away.

Luckily a ninja being stealthy with their money wasn't something that was uncommon so no one commented on his odd behaviour.

"Alright, now that that's all taken care of, anyone hungry?" Kakashi asked.

"If Sasuke gets sushi then I say no." Menma stated quickly. He didn't understand how the other could eat that much raw fish. Probably something to do with his lack of a girlfriend.

"Same here if he gets dango sticks." Sasuke drawled.

"So we'll all get fried rice and pork." Sakura sighed ushering them to a table. Kakashi didn't appear to be paying attention, more interested in the book he'd read a hundred times then the argument about food.

Gradually the conversation in the room was beginning to pick up. Menma closed his eyes and allowed himself a moment to simply listen.

"_Can't believe those freaks are back in here."_

"_Yeah. I thought they'd taken a break. Guess that rumour was wrong. I hope their mission isn't here."_

"_Still, rather them than the Kage. I still don't believe he's dead." _

"_Come on, he blew himself up. There were chunks lying around Suna and everything. Taka saw it with his own eyes." _

"_I don't care. I still don't believe it. Guy must be some kinda ninja bogeyman, and no bogeyman dies that easily." _Meh. Smart Shinobi that one. And such a flatterer too.

"_Both of you shut up. That new one gives me the creeps. Looks an awful lot like Hatake for my liking. I think he can hear us." _So what? He went from being the poor sap on Team 7, to the creepy bastard son of broom head? Wonderful.

"_But still. Don't you think it's a little fishy that the Kage trained a kid from Konoha, turned him into a killing machine and then goes and offs himself?" _

"_Strange or not, it's none of our business. Konoha isn't something that I want to tangle with tonight." _

Odd. Everyone was either talking about Team 7 or the Kage. How boring. Menma opened his eyes just as the food was placed on the table. Kakashi looked at him before the two raised a hand to their masks, a challenge in their eyes and FIRES IN THEIR YOUTHS.

"I bet on Menma." Sasuke stated suddenly.

"What, no faith in me Sasuke?" Kakashi asked with mock hurt.

"Nope. I've just seen him eat, that's all." Sasuke replied with a shrug.

"Well let's put it to the test." Sakura giggled and looked as though she was going to start a countdown.

"Why? I'm already done." Menma stated calmly and indeed he was. Sakura blinked in confusion. When had he done it?

"Well I lose." Kakashi eye-smiled before making his own food disappear like magi-er , jutsu.

"You two really shouldn't do that. It's unhealthy." Sakura pouted, caring little about the health consequences of their eating habits and more about not seeing their faces.

Before any one of them could reply a kunai buried itself into the table just in front of Menma. He'd sensed it coming but hadn't done anything about it because it was pointless to do so. It wasn't aimed at him, just the table. Poor table, never did anyone any harm.

A hand reached out and plucked the kunai from the table. Said hand was attached to an arm and said arm was attached to a grinning Shinobi. "So, this is the new member of Team 7. Doesn't look like much."

"That's your opinion but said new member of Team 7 can kick my ass." Kakashi replied cheerfully.

The Shinobi narrowed his eyes at Menma. "If he's so good, then how come no one's heard of him?"

"That's an awfully good question. Menma, you answer the man." Kakashi replied thoughtfully.

"I'm a low profile kind of guy." Menma shrugged, enjoying the game Kakashi was playing. It was clear to Menma that Kakashi didn't think very highly of the ninja's intelligence. Rightly so, considering Team 7's reputation and the fact that most ninja of his relative IQ tend to find lighting their farts on fire with katon jutsu a brilliant new idea. Said idea only being new because all the others that already had the idea are dead due to a fiery colonoscopy.

"You on the other hand I've heard of." Menma pulled his bag off his back and unsealed it before pulling out a Bingo book that was thicker than most usually were. Sealing the bag again he quickly flipped through the pages until finding the one he wanted.

"Ah yes, just as I thought. You specialise in providing information, to anyone and everyone who can pay the right price." Menma stated. "Says here that you're supposed to be an A-rank missing-nin of Kiri."

The missing-nin sweat dropped and his gaze slid to Sasuke and Kakashi. His heart beat increased drastically when Sasuke looked up at him, when before he'd simply ignored the man. "Information?"

Menma snapped the book shut, all the time Sasuke needed to have the man pinned across the room and against the wall. Something strange had happened to the atmosphere around Team 7 at the mention of specialising in providing information. It was awfully familiar to the excited almost chatter that they'd broken into when approaching the Shinobi inn.

"_You're bad for business . . ."_ Well, now Menma knew why they weren't allowed here. They terrorised the other shinobi. Not very Konoha-like at all.

"Tell me, missing-nin of Kiri, do you know anything about a certain Naruto Uzumaki?" Sasuke asked, his tone not even cold nor demanding, just casual.

Yet the missing-nin looked like he wished he was anywhere else but there. Well, except Kiri. He obviously didn't wish he was there, what with the whole missing-nin thing.

"Nothing. I don't know anything. Nope not a thing. Zilch. Nada."

"I hate it when people lie to me." Sasuke sighed, simply letting a bit of his chakra build up.

"I'm serious."

Sasuke did something to the ninja and he grunted in pain. Menma hadn't even seen what he had done. "Someone like you who makes their living on providing information will know something about everything." Kakashi added before turning a page. "Sasuke knows this, so it's best not to test his very limited patience."

Menma knew that there were several ways that this could go but he also knew that when it came to Sasuke there would be only one result. Now, Menma didn't much like the Shinobi, but he was very good at what he did and as such was sort of but not really invaluable to him as the Kage. Perhaps he should step in before he ended up having to cross a name out of his Bingo book.

"Neh, Sasuke. You're doing it wrong." Menma commented thoughtfully as he watched the Uchiha thoroughly terrify the supposed A-rank ninja. Honestly, do they give random cannon fodder higher ranks just for shits and giggles?

Menma stood and approached, his gaze travelling over the struggling ninja. Menma simply placed a finger between the ninja's eyes, very lightly touching the skin there. "You specialise in providing information, that is your worth and your purpose. However if you cannot provide my teammate with any information about Naruto Uzumaki, then you no longer have a purpose. A life without purpose is a meaningless one. Fail to give him what he wants and I will destroy your ability to provide information." Menma stated calmly.

"No one knows anything about Uzumaki. Everyone has looked because we know that we can use it against Team 7. It's like he doesn't exist anymore." The missing-nin said desperately, eyes travelling to the finger placed against his forehead.

"You sure?" Menma pressed, his hand beginning to heat up with concentrated chakra.

"Yes, yes I'm sure."

"Funny thing really, I don't seem to believe you." Menma allowed the chakra in his hand to increase.

"Alright, alright! There's a rumour, not a very well-known one and it isn't even believed by most but it's all I have! They say that Uzumaki was spotted in Suna, on one of the rooftops that overlook the chunin exam stadium." The missing nin spat out quickly, frightful eyes on the finger currently burning through his prized unibrow.

"See, now that wasn't so hard." Menma smiled at the missing-nin and dropped his hand.

"Suna? Why there and why now of all times. Nothing about him for four years and then bam Suna?" Sakura muttered.

"It's not a first-hand account so it's only as reliable as his source was, and judging from the desperation that other Shinobi had, desperation to bring down Team 7, it's probably not very reliable at all. It doesn't even make sense." Menma offered.

"Actually, Suna makes perfect sense to me." Sasuke replied, letting go of the missing-nin who quickly disappeared from the room.

"Oh, how so?" Menma prompted. Inwardly, he was starting to get a little angry.

"Naruto had a strange bond with both Gaara and Konohamaru. The kid's first chunin exam would draw him out, if nothing else." Sasuke muttered.

"I see. Good point Sasuke." Kakashi said snapping his book shut. "I do believe it's time for bed though." And then the jonin was standing and walking to the stairs. Sasuke and Sakura followed without a word. Menma didn't and they didn't look back.

"Like good little sheep." Menma murmured, catching the interest of the kunoichi sitting at the table next to him.

"You do not like them, do you?" she asked carefully, wary of upsetting him.

"Not at all. They have far too many secrets." Menma replied darkly.

"So do you, _Menma_. So do you." Isaribi reminded chidingly.

"Ah but mine I do not try to hide. They know I have them and they do not press the issue. They, on the other hand have been exchanging statements the whole way here, not saying a single word. One thing I noticed was that they're not done with that other Shinobi. I'm not entirely sure what more they can learn from him but they're going to try. I hope for his sake that he high tailed it out of here but even then something tells me that he wouldn't be able to get out of here fast enough." Menma muttered.

"I think it's admirable that they go to such lengths to find their teammate . . . You know they have a reputation for it. It's not very well known but it _is_ whispered about. They would do almost anything to find Uzumaki, so long as it didn't mean betraying the Leaf." Isaribi stated distantly, her eyes glazed over as she thought it over.

She did not know that Menma was in fact Naruto. She thought that what Menma was doing was nothing more than a mission for the Kage side of his life, only one that would require a little more of a personal touch.

"I think that they're headed down a path they cannot return from." Menma muttered thinking of his own dark wanderings.

"Maybe so, but that's their choice." Isaribi stated quietly. "Well, Shi and I are heading out to complete the Kage assigned missions in Kiri. I imagine the others are completing the missions in their own sectors. Even being dead, your missions still get done." Isaribi informed him. "Everything will be in order when you rise from the grave." Menma had been forced to call in a lot of favours to make sure his work still got done. He wasn't planning to play dead to the world forever and as such he'd had to use all his favour credits to get other ninja that owed him one to do his jobs for him. It was rather annoying but it couldn't be helped.

"That might be a while. This is taking longer than I thought. The Akatsuki seem to be taking their time." Menma muttered, his frustration at this fact starting to show in his eyes. "I should leave before they come looking for me."

"Don't get caught." Isaribi called after him as he left, their entire conversation having been hidden by a genjutsu she had cast and he had allowed himself to be caught in. To the outside world he'd been continuing with normal functions, ordering some sake and casually sipping it, sending challenging glares to any of the Shinobi in the room that dared to openly stare at him. He imagined that as the new member of Team 7 he was instantly less popular in the inn. Too bad he never cared much for popularity contests, or this would just break his little teenaged heart.

* * *

**Actual time, Konoha ANBU T&I**

Kakashi looked up as the door opened. Inoichi walked in with the fully complied report of what Ino had seen in his hand. He handed the report to Kakashi who took it without a word and began flipping through it.

"How're your plans coming?" Inoichi inquired grimly.

"Surprisingly productive for something I only have a half assed idea about. Jiraiya knows a lot more about this stuff then what he lets on." Kakashi replied more interested in the report than answering the question.

There was a moment of silence, a silence in which Kakashi could sense Inoichi working up the courage to ask a question. "Kakashi?"

"Hmmm?"

"Are you sure about this? I mean, you know what it's like to be indebted to another Shinobi. Perhaps he only did it because of that." Inoichi began.

"No. I don't think Menma is the type of Shinobi to allow himself to be hindered by such things. If he truly wanted to do something, I believe he'd find a way to do it, no matter the circumstances." Kakashi replied after thinking it over for a moment.

"Alright." Inoichi sighed deeply, wearily. "I just hate to imagine how all this is going to end. It can't end well, that's for sure."

"What, no trust in Konoha's ability to keep a prisoner incapacitated?" Kakashi half teased, but it was so half hearted that it could rarely be called that, if at all.

"It's not that, it's more like I just can't shake the feeling that we're playing right into his hands. He's more dangerous than we've estimated and that report is probably exactly what he wants it to look like. He knows Konoha, her weaknesses and her strengths. He knows what to expect from us." Inoichi warned, giving Kakashi a weary look that wasn't directed at the jonin but more for the situation they were in.

"I don't plan on letting him get loose." Kakashi stated with a conviction that was hard to ignore.

"Neither do I." Inoichi nodded to himself, "That being said, tell me something, how does the Uchiha's genjutsu work? I'm still a little confused."

"Hmmm, let's see. Think of a blank piece of paper, right? Now imagine that page beginning to fill up with a list of things, daily activities and such that are, in metaphorical terms, memories. You following me?" Kakashi began.

"Yeah. I'm not that dumb Hatake." Inoichi deadpanned.

"You asked." Kakashi grumbled before continuing with his explanation. "Now this list is numbered, starting from one and moving higher to whatever number you want. Sasuke's genjutsu is like taking that paper and folding it so that a certain number of memories are now underneath and upside down. Get it?"

"Hang on, I need a visual here." Inoichi muttered picking up a blank piece of paper and writing down a list of numbers on the one side.

Kakashi took the page and folded it so that the last ten numbers were no longer visible before placing the paper flat on the table he was currently working at. "Let's say for the purpose of the example that the numbers here represent whole days." Kakashi began again. On the page itself there had been twenty numbers, of which only ten were now showing. "Like the paper, you can't take away from the list without the paper physically getting shorter. As such it's like the memories rewind themselves, making the mind think they never happened, yet, like the paper they're not gone, just underneath." Kakashi turned the page over so that the last ten numbers were visible, yet upside down. "Sasuke's genjutsu's entire aim is to disorientate his victim, like the numbers here are upside down and if read from top to bottom, starts with the last and highest number and decreases to the lowest number."

"Well that all seems kind of pointless. Simply unfold the paper and the memories are no longer disoriented." Inoichi frowned.

"You're forgetting the fact that Sasuke is an Uchiha. Sasuke, the sadistic bastard that he is, takes those folded underneath memories and completely shreds them into individual pieces. He can then choose what he wants to show you of your own memories. He doesn't change them in any way whatsoever, but rather the order in which you remember them. Metaphorically, he rearranges the order of the numbers." Kakashi said taking a kunai and carefully slicing through the page as he spoke.

"So he starts off the genjutsu with actual memories, a starting point before introducing the confused ones." Inoichi mused out loud.

"No, you misunderstand. ALL of the things he uses in the genjutsu are real memories. Not a single thing is fabricated, which is what makes it so effective. You can't find a lie or deception where there is none and you won't recognise the genjutsu because your mind doesn't see one, only your memories. The only drawback is that he cannot access the mind's memory banks. He isn't a Yamanaka. Yet give it a year or two and I bet he'll be able to do that as well. At the current moment he can work with the memories he himself is featured in." Kakashi corrected.

"So what went wrong with Menma?" Inoichi asked while nodding his understanding.

"Menma's mind, for some unknown reason, could not accept his own memories. It's as though he cannot fathom the possibility of whatever happened on the 'number' his mind rejected the genjutsu on. Sasuke said he hadn't even gotten to the 'shredded' memories yet."

"Which means, he rejected his own memories." Inoichi muttered. "At the moment, his mind is probably repairing itself, reorganizing what Sasuke interfered with. Sasuke puts the memories back the way they were when he's done, correct?"

"Yes. Most times." Kakashi replied looking away. Changing the subject he picked up the report once again and gestured to a statement. "This part in your report, about his sectioned mind aiding him in being able to resist torture methods, does it apply to what I have in mind as well?"

"No. What you have in mind will trap the persona that's in charge so that he cannot change to another, forcing him to a breaking point depending on the will of the persona in charge where before whenever the torture got too much he'd simply change to someone else, a fresher person if you will so that it's the equivalent of you and Ibiki starting all over again. Sometimes, when he was completely unresponsive to anything and everything he was probably so deep within his own mind that he couldn't even hear you or feel the pain you inflicted upon him." It was Inoichi's turn to explain and Kakashi was both relieved and dismayed to learn that this had a good possibility of working. According to the report, they wanted the Menma persona in charge since he was more likely to sway over to Konoha.

"How much longer do you think you'll be? He's been sorting out his memories for a while now. He can't be too much longer." Inoichi asked.

"Jiraiya has gone to check a few things so I can't give you any estimates. You know what that sannin is like sometimes." Kakashi muttered, his gaze travelling to the viewing window where he could see Menma strapped to the rack, his chakra slowly being drained from him. With his eyes closed and his expression blank Kakashi could almost see the teammate he'd grown to see the boy as, yet his betrayal was still too fresh to ignore.

* * *

**Menma's memories. **

The mission had gone smoothly enough and their teamwork was actually surprisingly co-ordinated. Menma felt like he was falling into old habits once again and realised that he and Sasuke had always had an instinctive teamwork, no matter how much they bickered while at home.

He had been right about Team 7 interrogating that other Shinobi for more information. They'd slipped away in the dead of the night, Menma not even bothering to follow from the room he had taken the liberty of renting himself. He'd done it for the sole purpose of seeing just what Team 7 would do when they didn't have to worry about him and what they'd done was actually appalling by Konoha standards.

There was no longer a missing nin from Kiri who specialised in providing information. He wasn't dead, he just wasn't very coherent either and probably never would be ever again.

Still, what Isaribi had said was starting to play on his mind.

"_I think it's admirable that they go to such lengths to find their teammate . . ."_

They were still looking and their methods were bordering on desperation. He'd heard about it and it had been a large factor in his decision to act against the Akatsuki now and pretend to be dead. He was quite content to just leave the Akatsuki to attack Konoha in search of Naruto. Or so he'd thought.

A part of him positively squirmed at the thought. He was starting to like it less and less. Yet he could not squash it.

No matter how hard he tried not to, he still cared for the Leaf and was greatly loyal to it. He never accepted a mission that disadvantaged the Leaf in any way, and whenever a Leaf Shinobi was in danger he'd always helped out even if they never knew it. There was only one team he avoided like the plague and never lifted a finger to help, save that one time because it was crucial to his plan and that was with the ambush that Team Ebisu had stumbled upon.

As they walked back through the gates of Konoha, the two chunin on guard duty waved cheerfully, welcoming them back as though they were precious and perhaps they were. Menma was even surprised when he was also included into this cheery greeting, feeling completely awkward. He didn't know what to do with the light airy and friendly conversation so he muttered out an excuse of needing some more sealing scrolls before scurrying off to find the Ninja supply shop.

As he walked away he'd felt Sasuke's eyes bore into him the whole way but the gaze hadn't really been threatening, just there. Kind of like an interesting puzzle that you were curious about but only curious and nothing more.

The little bell above the door tinkled as he walked in and Menma mentally cringed at the annoyance that little bell must be on a rather busy day. How it hadn't been destroyed yet would remain a mystery. Humming to himself as he browsed the little shop, Menma saw that it had the pretty standard stuff but it specialised in the sealing equipment which was what Menma was here for. His excuse had really been quite truthful.

"Oh, hello again."

Menma turned to see the artist Shinobi from before smiling at him. In his hand was a bottle of ninja ink. Did he incorporate his art into his ninjutsu or did he create his own seals? Menma didn't think it was the latter since most Shinobi didn't study the Sealing Arts any more.

"Sai, was it?" Menma replied, knowing full well that this was indeed Sai.

"Yes, and I believe you are Menma." Sai's smile widened but it didn't get any more reassuring. The opposite in fact.

"Don't suppose you know where the Sealing scrolls are?" Menma asked.

"I believe they are over there. I was in here for ink and I do not think they keep them in the same place." Sai supplied attempting to look apologetic but failing rather miserably.

Menma looked to where Sai had gestured and grabbed three completely empty scrolls. There were ones with pre-made seals on them but those weren't very practical. Not in Menma's opinion anyway since they were very generic. Anyone could use them and hence anyone could get into them. He then grabbed a bottle of ninja ink and walked over to the counter to pay for it.

"Nice wallet." Sai smiled, (Which was really starting to annoy Menma) as he spied the green frog that served as keeper of Menma's money.

"You don't have a thing against frogs do you?" Menma deadpanned.

"No, no. Not at all. They are just not my first choice." Sai stated quickly.

Menma noted a book in Sai's pocket. It seemed to be a basic guide to making friends or something like that. How odd. What was this guy? A social recluse? A relative caveman? An interaction vegetable?

Menma just raised an eyebrow before exiting the shop, Sai doggedly following him. "I am going to that ramen stand after this. Would you like to join me?" Sai offered.

"Are you paying?" Menma asked blandly.

Sai seemed to pause at this, but he was quick to respond.

"Sure, why not." Sai's grin was really, really getting annoying.

"Do you consider it a date?" Menma asked, just as blandly as before.

"Not at all, merely a friendly outing." Sai responded, the smile melting off his features at the implied question of his sexuality.

"Alright then, I accept your offer. And it's Ichiraku's to you, got it?" Menma changed his entire demeanour to super friendly, and then to near demonic, throwing Sai a little or a lot off balance. Though he didn't show it, pale robot that he was.

"So, what kind of ninjutsu do you use? I use scrolls and ninja ink but I am sure you have guessed as much already." Sai stated, walking towards the ramen stand as he spoke.

"So is that Yin or Yang? I'm going to go with Yin, but I've been wrong before." Menma muttered to himself trying to fit Sai's ninjutsu into a category. "Uh, I use Change in nature type jutsus mostly." Menma added in a louder tone, answering Sai's rather personal but reasonable question.

"Really? That is more advanced than what I would assume one your age to be utilizing. What affinity do you have?" Sai probed further.

"I can use all the elements." Menma replied vaguely, not wanting to tell Sai anything but he'd offered ramen. Anyone who liked ramen had to be alright, right? Right. Team 7 didn't like ramen so that had to be a good indicator of how much fun they were. Sasuke liked sushi. Point made.

"I have never heard of anyone who can use all the elements. They say it is impossible." Sai muttered, slightly awed by the alleged skill of his ramen loving companion.

"It's not easy, that's for sure. It's probably not smart either since some techniques take more chakra than what they're worth but it's not impossible if you have the right amount of chakra and even more fool determination." Menma shrugged.

They sat down at the stand and ordered their respective meals.

"So where did you learn? I was bought up in the Foundation." Sai asked, and for once his curiosity didn't appear to be faked.

"Originally, right here in Konoha. Then I just travelled around, learning what I could, where I could." Menma replied thoughtfully, deciding to oblige the other Shinobi. It wasn't like he was planning on staying here forever.

"Do other nations teach outsiders?"

"Not really." Menma's tone grew darker as he reflected on some of the challenges he'd had to face when it came to learning new things. Finding a willing Shinobi to teach you something when you yourself weren't from anywhere in particular wasn't only hard, it was a damn nightmare.

Their ramen came then and Menma happily shut up so that he could put his mouth to better use. Ah, how he'd missed this. Nothing should've ever come between him and his ramen.

Menma slurped down the noodles so fast he was in danger of choking but he'd had practise and was in blissed out delight as he ate the food he'd sorely missed. It was almost worth coming back to Konoha for. Almost.

Sai just watched in amazement as Menma ate, eating his own food at a much slower pace. He couldn't say he knew what all the fuss was about, but he couldn't deny that this rather unhealthy choice in food was delicious.

Glancing sideways at Menma, Sai had to conclude that there was an atmosphere that surrounded him, something that just screamed power. Menma wasn't a Shinobi to be taken lightly, especially if he was able to use all five elements and who knew what else. There was a good chance he knew fuinjutsu if the supplies he bought were any indication, and those kinds of Shinobi were always unpredictable. If they knew what they were doing they were a formidable foe in battle.

"Hey Old man, can I have another bowl please?" Menma asked, placing his empty one to the side. Sai was very pointedly not looking at Menma's face even if Menma still had it covered.

"So you have learnt from all over." Sai summarised.

"Pretty much." Menma shrugged. He'd learnt from everywhere and nowhere, particularly in the ruins of Uzu. The Uzumaki ruins were very useful, and it wasn't stealing if he was an Uzumaki himself now was it.

When he'd first started learning about sealing it had been as though his mind had been cleared for the very first time. He didn't stare at the scribbles in confusion, wishing he had someone to explain it to him, he simply understood. He felt, in a rather corny way, born to do the sealing arts. Now when one thought about the clans and how they used specific jutsus, such as the shadow jutsus for the Nara and the mind jutsus for the Yamanaka, well then it wasn't all the corny to think that as an Uzumaki he'd be born to do sealing. They were known for it and as such they had been destroyed because of it. A great loss for the growth of fuinjutsu. Many of their records had also been destroyed, but thankfully not all of them. It was a waste in Menma's opinion.

"If you're in the Foundation, why aren't you in an ANBU mask?" Menma asked suddenly.

"Not all of the Foundation members end up in ANBU." Sai replied, and then thought to himself, '_Some of them end up on spy missions._'

"Ah well, who can really know these things? You guys are all so secretive." Menma shrugged with a grin, restraining himself from asking for another bowl and feeling like a traitor as he did so. May the ramen gods forgive him.

"You are extremely secretive yourself you know." Sai reminded, still working on his first bowl. "But I would rather not bother discussing that. A ninja is entitled to their secrets, are they not? Perhaps we could talk about Team 7? Are you adjusting well?"

Smooth. Those friendship books must be paying off. Menma smirked before looking away, to hide the darkening of his eyes.

"They're okay."

"Just okay?" Sai asked, his tone sounding like he was trying for concern but not quite managing to hide the dead emotionlessness.

"Yeah. They're more close knit than most teams. They don't really need a fourth member, and even if they wanted one there's really only one Shinobi they'd accept. So me being me, as powerful or as skilled as I might be or ever get, I don't think it would ever be enough. Not in spirit anyway. I'm just not the ninja they want so desperately." Menma explained.

"I see." Sai's tone said the exact opposite of that. He didn't understand why anyone would shun a teammate just because he wasn't the friend that they wanted. If a Shinobi was skilled enough to be on the mission, then Sai was happy, in a mission sense. His conditioning prevented him knowing happy if it walked up and gave him a mission for the good of the village.

"You know, I always heard that Sasuke was really into revenge and all that, but he doesn't seem as hell bent on it as I would have thought." Menma was going to try and learn something through this odd Shinobi. After all, half the reason he was here was to antagonise Sasuke into going after his brother again. The whole game was pointless without Sasuke's involvement.

"After Uzumaki left Sasuke focused his attention on that instead. They say it was like the Uchiha woke up from a daze, suddenly realising that he didn't need to hunt down his brother to avenge a fallen family if he had one right here in Konoha." Sai explained in a tone that was better suited for giving a report, and for all Menma knew Sai had read the very answer in a report of some sort.

There was only so much he could take of the emotion faking ninja. The fake smiles with the not so subtle questions that were intended to learn more about him were driving him to the point where he was going to snap. So instead, he pulled out his wallet and paid for his ramen, even though he'd asked Sai if it was his treat.

"Sorry to rush off but I do have things to do." Menma smiled at the seated Shinobi before him before waving to the ramen owners, trying not to do something remotely Naruto like since they'd definitely notice.

Before Sai could return the farewell Menma was walking away. Sai was an interesting Shinobi, if not a little annoying. Menma wasn't fooled by him, as he knew Sai was there as a spy and a poor one at that. Members from the Foundation were good for only two kinds of missions, killing and non-interaction Intel gathering. Not close and personal. They simply could not replicate personality no matter how many books they read.

He wondered if Sai knew who he really was, if the other ninja had been told or if he'd been left in the dark amongst the roots. He got the feeling that Sai was smart enough to figure it out all on his own, whether he'd been told or not. He just needed time to grow into a true person, and someone to dedicate the time to prune any unsavoury habits that could sprout up. Too bad Menma only had a passing interest at best.

Menma frowned as he realised just where he'd unconsciously walked towards. Looking around he realised that it was awfully close to his old apartment. Looking up at the tall, dilapidated building in the distance Menma couldn't help the shiver. Looking upon the outside really did the inside no justice. Inside the red building his little apartment was actually quite nice. Well the apartment that used to be his.

A flash of pink made him look to the building across from his old apartment. Narrowing his eyes in confusion he jumped up onto the roof tops and silently approached the pink haired kunoichi of Team 7.

"Sakura." He greeted right next to her and right behind her making her jump a mile. Only her training kept her from shrieking.

"Oh, Menma, it's you." Sakura breathed turning to face him. "For a moment there . . . . . . I'd thought's you'd sounded like someone else but I guess I was wrong."

Menma shifted slightly before turning to look at the red building that was actually pretty visible from here. In fact Menma could see right through the window of his old apartment. What he saw made him frown in utter bewilderment.

"Is that Sasuke?" Menma asked, looking at Sakura again.

Her gaze was distant and dejected as she watched the Uchiha. "Yes. It's Naruto's apartment, or rather it was. Every time someone tries to go in there to clean the place up Sasuke gets really angry. Eventually he just placed so many seals and chakra wards around it that he's the only one that can get in. He goes there every time he thinks he's failed. He sits there, completely silent and unmoving. I think he tries to see what N-Naruto saw, to see the reasons why he would leave." Sakura explained, her tone soft and almost hoarse. "He misses the teammate, the friend he'd formed a bond with after thinking he'd never have that again because of his older brother."

_He is the reason I left . . . _

Menma frowned as he watched Sasuke, simply standing in the middle of the chaotic room. It looked like nothing had been touched since he'd left it, not a single thing appeared to have been moved. How odd. Stretching out his senses, Menma concluded that all the wards and seals were currently inactive so it safe to go in there. Made sense since the Uchiha was already in.

Before Sakura could stop him Menma jumped onto the balcony that lead to his old room and hopped through the window, landing with a practised ease on the wooden floor. Sasuke stiffened, but otherwise didn't react.

Menma glanced around at the objects he'd pulled out of place to judge whether he wanted them anymore or not. The things he'd clung to were sad really, and spoke of a life without companionship.

"What is this place?" Menma asked, deciding to play dumb.

"Don't touch anything." Sasuke said tonelessly instead of answering.

Menma stared at the back of the Uchiha's head for a moment before he looked at the objects once again. "As a Shinobi I can analyse this room. I'm sure you could too but something is preventing you from finding the answer you seek. Perhaps I can help you with that. The problem appears personal."

Sasuke didn't say anything but his head did twitch in Menma's direction, so he took that as consent.

"The posters everywhere indicate a rather unhealthy obsession with all things ramen related."

Menma began, eyes closing rather than looking at the objects that were once a part of the centre of his little world. "The possessions are few in number, well used yet well looked after, which indicates that this person did not have wealth. Their childishness and sometimes uselessness tells me that they were rather lonely, perhaps starved for attention. Either that or really sentimental, but the lack of pictures aside from three tells me it's the first. The pictures tell me who his precious people are, Iruka Umino, Sandaime Hokage, and his team mates. The way he treats his objects, taking good care of everything even if it appears useless, tells me that he would treat those close to him with the same care and love."

"Then why did he leave?"

Menma opened his eyes to stare at the blank black of the Uchiha's. "Well, the fact that everything is not in its place, yet still in a somewhat order means he chose to leave. Something about this life," Menma gestured to the room around them, "Left him damaged enough to consider whether or not it was worth staying for. Apparently not. Considering the almost childlike clinginess that he has for simple objects, I'd say that it was his precious people that hurt him. But that's just my point of view." Menma shrugged, looking away from the Uchiha.

Sasuke stared at him silently once more and Menma waited, not prepared to say anymore. Sasuke would talk when he was ready and that confused Menma. Why was he waiting for the Uchiha to say something at all? Why was he standing in this room, trying to help the Uchiha find the answer to a question Menma already knew the answer to?

"Help me." Sasuke stated suddenly. "You, as the Kage, can do things that I, as the Uchiha of the Leaf, cannot. So . . . please, I feel like I'm running out of time. Help me find him?" For once Sasuke's voice showed an emotion so deep that it was unbelievably that it actually came from the Uchiha at all. Menma was too unfamiliar with the sight to actually identify the emotion before it was quickly reined in and placed once again under the blank mask.

_Help me find him . . . . . ._

* * *

Standing by the memorial stone, Menma was at a loss. He didn't know what to do anymore. All his plans were in disarray. All his thoughts were whirling around in his mind, constantly replying all that he'd learnt since coming back. Was life never fair to him?

Why couldn't they just treat him like that had when he'd been Naruto? It would make things so much easier. Instead, he got something far more unexpected.

Was it because he had power? Did they want something from him? A new jutsu perhaps. Or maybe they wanted him to do a mission for them. It was hard to tell. If they knew who he really was, they wouldn't be half as eager. His genin days were proof enough.

Stretching out a hand, Menma brushed his fingers across the name of the former Hokage. "Things were so much simpler when you were here, Old man."

"Menma?"

Said ninja dropped his hand and turned around to see Kakashi, hands in his pockets and visible eye staring at him with a concern that was both confusing and annoying.

"You look troubled. You know, if you need to talk, I'll listen. I know we haven't been on the same team for a long time. In fact it's only been a few days, but if you need me, I'll be there. After all, we're comrades now, allies in a fight against a greater enemy." Kakashi stated, his tone serious and his gaze showing alertness for once rather than lazy indifference.

_If you need me, I'll be there . . . . . . _

* * *

The sand was more of a reminder of his purpose here, than seeing Sasuke's face. The sand was a reminder that he had someone in the world that he could trust, someone who accepted him and knew everything about him.

_Gaara, if only you could see me now. _

Menma picked up the scroll that contained the handful or so of chakra charged sand. He was sitting on the roof of the Uchiha house he was currently staying in. Sasuke was inside, doing who the hell knew what but Menma had seen him enter a room that was filled with information. Menma wasn't bothered enough to read the information. What Sasuke did in his free time was not Menma's problem.

Menma poured the sand into his hand and concentrated his own chakra into the golden grains. This was Gaara's special sand, the lighter faster kind. Raising his hand Menma tossed the sand into the air, watching it scatter before freezing and zooming into something new.

_Are you still going to do it, after returning and seeing Konoha and her people again?_

Menma focused on the chakra he'd placed into the sand and forced the grains to rearrange themselves into a new message. This phrase was perhaps the most truthful phrase he'd spoken in a long time, and it adequately summed up everything he both felt and thought at the moment. But just because it was adequate, did not mean that it was helpful.

_I don't know, I don't know anything anymore. _

Letting out a sharp whistle, he waited a few minutes before a messenger hawk land next to him, staring with a slightly cocked head. Then, he directed the sand back to the scroll and attached it to the back of the bird who nipped his finger affectionately before flying back to Suna. Perhaps he'd misjudged his team. Perhaps in his nativity he'd missed the truth and seen only what he'd wanted to see. Perhaps it had all been a misunderstanding.

"Menma."

Looking down at the ground Menma saw Sasuke watching him. The setting sun made the Uchiha look further clouded in shadows. Sasuke held up a scroll, a summons scroll. Why would Tsunade send something like that?

Thinking back to Team 7's extra-curricular actives while out on missions, Menma had to conclude that they were about to be in a lot of trouble. However, there was always a chance that Tsunade knew what they were doing simply because they told her about it.

* * *

As they walked into the office Tsunade handed Kakashi the report from their mission. "Read it. Pass it along." Tsunade stated in a clipped tone. "I want _all_ of you to read it."

By the time Menma got the report he'd been expecting it to be covering with profanities, insufficiencies, impossibilities and some other unmentionables. Yet, there appeared to be nothing wrong with it. In fact it was perfect aside from the omitted torture session of the missing nin from Kiri.

Menma turning it over this way and that, even searching it for traces of chakra to see if perhaps there was a prank attached to it. After his brief but thorough search, Menma was forced to conclude that, if anything, the report was too perfect.

"See anything wrong with it?" Tsunade asked, her tone bordering on rage but still managing to sound coldly polite.

Not a single word was spoken because it was one of those situations where you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. Menma could sense the rising tension as well as the strengthening resolve from Team 7. They weren't going to apologise no matter what happened.

"How long?!" The dam had broken and Tsunade's voice cracked through the air like a whip. Not a single one of them flinched, even if they felt very much like they should.

"How long were you planning to do this? How long have you BEEN doing this? AND FOR GOD'S SAKE HOW LONG WERE YOU PLANNING ON NOT TELLING ME!"

_*Crack!*_

The desk was cleaved in two as each word had been emphasised with a pounding of clenched fists on the desk.

Again, no one said a word. Hell, they didn't even appear to be breathing.

"Menma! Do you agree with the report?!" Tsunade snapped at him.

Menma looked straight back at her, his chestnut eyes hardening with a newfound resolve he wasn't even fully sure of . . . but he had it so he was going to go for it. Whatever happened next, he'd handle it, they'd handle it . . . as a team.

"Yes. I agree with it one hundred percent." Menma's tone was calm, quiet, contrasting Tsunade's next action.

_*Crash!*_

There went the large heavy chair. Straight out the window. Sandaime must be rolling in his grave. Menma resisted the urge to sweat drop when he heard an anguished cry from the streets below. Probably Kotetsu, unlucky bastard that he is.

"How could you have been so reckless!? This isn't the way of the Leaf! You'll NEVER comprehend just how disappointed I am in ALL of you. And MOSTLY, it's because you felt that you couldn't trust me enough to come to me. You're not the only ones who want to find Naruto!" Tsunade was beyond enraged now and it was a good thing there weren't all that many things in the room to throw. "I feel utterly insulted that you felt you needed to LIE to me. How could you not have thought that Menma would be watched, even on missions! He's a GOD FORSAKEN missing-nin! They're not just welcomed back with open arms until we're certain we can trust them!"

Not a word was spoken in defence of themselves or said nin. Neither Kakashi, nor Sasuke even try to dispute what Tsunade was saying and Menma believed that this was their way of showing their guilt.

Tsunade broke off with a glare. It was clear to them that there was more that she felt she could've said but she was holding herself back in case there were things said that were not meant, and could not be repaired.

"Your punishment will be given after the impending mission with Gaara and the Akatsuki. Get out of my sight!" Tsunade waved a hand at the door and the four of them turned, walking slowly and silently to the door.

"Oh, one last thing. Sakura, as my student, a medical protégé, your teammate's actions should have appalled you. You should not have _helped_ them by sharing medical knowhow with them for such purposes." Menma watched as Sakura's posture seemed to droop at the words, yet she remained strong.

"Kakashi, as the top Jonin and perhaps even top ANBU Shinobi, you should've known better. You, out of everyone in this room, should know – exactly – what a ruined reputation can do to a person." Tsunade didn't need that monster strength of hers to ruthlessly cut down anything in her way. Her words cut just as deep.

"It was worth it for Naruto." Sakura suddenly cut in, her voice shaky and weak, yet she quickly closed her mouth when Tsunade glared at her.

Tsunade then turned her attention to the Uchiha, who wasn't facing anyone in the room, his gaze narrowed in steely resolve coupled with a tight lipped control. Everything in the room was utterly silent as they waited for Tsunade to speak to the Uchiha. Even he seemed to be holding his breath.

"As my number one consideration for the position of the Sixth Hokage . . . you should be the most ashamed and disgusted with your actions. Your focus is on the wrong things in life Sasuke, and with just a little more guidance, you can make a great Hokage . . . if only you weren't so bent on revenge."

Ah, there it was. The whole reason he was here, the whole reason he was who he was.

There was no outward reaction to the words that were slashing up his earlier resolve and oddly comradeship he'd developed with Team 7. There wasn't even a grimace or a fluttering eyelid. No, he was too good for that. Menma was not his persona right now.

The chestnut eyes darkened into a brown that wasn't quite dark enough to be considered almost black. Nin was taking over while Menma went to sort through the emotional turmoil that he'd experienced. He'd forgotten why they were here and now Nin had to clean up the mess.

_The plan, just stick to the plan no matter what._

* * *

**Nin POV**

Nin was the first one out the door, walking calmly and completely without emotion on any feature of his face that was visible. He imagined that Menma would have stopped outside the Hokage tower, reached into his weapons' pouch for the pack of cigarettes he'd fallen into a bad habit of using before pulling one out and shakily raising it to his lips after having yanked down his mask. Then he would've lit it with chakra infused finger tips and taken a long drag, holding in the smoke just that little bit longer to try and make the feelings go away as he leaned his head back and gazed with unseeing eyes at the growing number of stars in the sky.

Nin did not reach for the cigarettes that he knew where just to the left of the kunai. He did not stop to look at the sky. He did not fall apart as his world twirled with a hurricane's grace around him.

Instead he went to the Shinobi bar on the corner of the busiest street in Konoha and ordered three cups of sake. Bars had become popular in Konoha since Tsunade became Hokage and Nin wrinkled his nose in disgust. There had been fewer than three when Sarutobi had been in charge. Alcohol and chakra never mixed well.

His surprise quickly grew to irritation when he sensed Team 7 tagging along behind him, their chakra inwardly turbulent, but their outward manner reserved and silent.

His drinks were placed in front of him and Nin raised the first one to suddenly exposed lips and downed the whole thing in one gulp, the other two quick to follow.

"Hey. I know that Team 7 can be a drag, but they're not that bad."

Nin looked to the voice, noting a surprised looking Shikamaru. Nin ignored him, going back to his self-appointed mission of getting as drunk as he possibly could in as little time as possible.

"Are you even old enough to drink?" Sakura asked, sitting down on the chair next to Nin who snorted but didn't say anything in favour of downing another three cups of sake. Mentally he was keeping count but he didn't think that anyone in the bar thought he was. He knew that he had a rather high tolerance for alcohol and it would take about twenty to get him adequately trashed.

Sasuke sat down on Nin's other side, ordering a drink of his own. By now Shikamaru had gone back to his table, completely baffled by Team 7's behaviour. His teammates, Ino and Choji, were just as confused, looking to Asuma for answers who simply shook his head silently telling them that this was not the time nor the place.

As Nin raised his seventh cup Kakashi placed a hand over the top and gently pushed the cup back down. Nin squeezed his eyes shut, biting back the angry reaction. "You shouldn't beat yourself up after only one reprimand." Kakashi stated quietly. "But, I had no idea that you felt so strongly about Team 7."

Nin considered snapping out a reply but ignored the jonin instead. He knocked the other's hand away so that he could drink the sake. He heard Kakashi sigh wearily before sitting down next to Sasuke.

A hand suddenly clapped Nin's shoulder and the grumpy Shinobi tensed, forcing himself not to lash out at the Jonin that grinned at him. "So you're Team 7's new member. Heck if you're alright with them, then you're alright with me."

Genma Shiranui. Proctor of the third round in the chunin exams. Simple facts with no emotional connection at all. Just the way he liked it.

Behind Genma were the chunin duo Izumo and Kotetsu, the later nursing a large bump. They looked around Genma and waved with equal looks of happy enthusiasm, though one could just be concussed. Nin scowled under his mask before shrugging the hand off his shoulder and signalling for another cup of sake. His eighth.

"Have a bad day kid?" Kurenai. Leader of Team 8. The sake cup in Nin's hand cracked and he forced his grip to loosen.

"Menma? Is everything alright? You're not usually this quiet." Sakura frowned moving to put a hand on his shoulder but he smacked it away with a mumbled "I'm fine."

"Ha! You're about as good at lying as Shino is." Kiba interrupted quickly shutting up when the sake cup exploded into a shower of shards. Nin shook his hand of the remaining bits of the cup, not trusting himself to pick up another one.

"Menma, you do remember our conversation from earlier right?" Kakashi had at some point taken out his Icha Icha book, but had now lowered it so that he could look at Nin with concern. _Concern_. God he wanted to puke.

With Tsunade's earlier statement everything had come crashing back to him. Why the hell had he allowed himself to get so caught up again?

Closing his eyes Nin tried his best to ignore the people around him, each one directing looks of concern and sadness in Team 7's direction. It was as though half of them knew what had happened in the Hokage's office and who could blame them really? A few clapped Kakashi on the shoulder in a silent gesture of support, some even being brave enough to do it to him as well.

After the fifth person and the twelfth sake cup, Nin snapped.

Moving faster than what could actually be seen Nin grabbed Kakashi's jonin jacket and slammed said jonin against the wall. "It's all a fucking lie!"

"Menma, I need you to calm down." Kakashi stated in a reasonable tone that made Nin even angrier.

"Why do you let them believe it? Why?" on the second 'why' Nin pulled Kakashi forward before slamming him backwards again, not even hearing or noticing the crack as Kakashi's head slammed painfully into the wooden surface. "They're all so _concerned_ and _comforting_ and – and – fucking nauseatingly _sweet_!"

"Menma, please clam down." Kakashi tried again, his own hands remaining limp at his sides.

A killing intent like nothing he'd ever felt before seeped through the bar, all of it coming from the Shinobi in front of him. "When do the lies and confusion end?" Nin breathed quietly.

Kakashi knew that there was something else bothering the boy. His reactions were far too extreme for it to be just the meeting with the Hokage.

"Who says that all of this is a lie? We are comrades, we are teammates. So, who says it's all a lie?" Kakashi asked, staring at Nin's exposed features so that he could at least try and figure out what was going on in his head.

Nin's rage increased before he yelled "You don't even KNOW ME!"

"Whose fault is that?" Kakashi replied, shocking Nin into dropping Kakashi, who landed lightly on his feet, gaze pinned to Nin.

With a snarl Nin stormed towards the door but Kakashi stoped him by grabbing his shoulder. "The last time I let an angry teammate walk away from me, he never came back." Kakashi's tone was strained as though he didn't want to talk about this. "And I've been talking to Sakura and Sasuke. We want you to stay, when the mission's over. If you want, that is."

"You don't know me." Nin stated quietly before shrugging away from Kakashi's hold and going to the door only to be stopped by an approaching shadow clone. He watched as the clone held out a scroll and he took it before the clone popped out of existence. It was the same scroll he'd sent back to Suna, or at least the same type. Unravelling the scroll and putting chakra into it, a small pile of sand appeared in the middle of the parchment.

Pouring the sand into his palm, Nin held his breath as he charged the particles with his own chakra. Was this it? He flicked his wrist and watched the sand fall through the air before stopping and rearranging into two words.

_They're here._

"The Akatsuki have made their move. Time to move out." Nin walked out of the bar after stating as much over his shoulder to the members of Team 7.

"Sasuke, Sakura. You better be ready for this one. The Akatsuki aren't pushovers." Kakashi stated firmly, "So for this mission, if I tell you to do something, you do it. Understood?" They nodded once.

"Wait! You're going to go fight the Akatsuki?" Asuma asked, his voice betraying his alarm at this fact.

"It's the whole reason why Menma is on our team." Kakashi replied. "We'll be fine."

* * *

**Answering those reviews **

**jayley**: The didn't question Iruka before because all they had were suspicions and theories. It's not like they actually WANT to question the Academy sensei. So they waited for something a little more concrete to go on and they'd never truly hurt him. As for the personalities, they do have a purpose and I'll explain how and why they were created as the story goes. As for the planning Naruto to be referred to as Nara, done! Thanks for the suggestion. As for what Menma did to piss them off. That's in Chapter 10.

* * *

**Saligia010**: Thanks for such a lovely review. In truth it's my most popular story to date so I'm happy. XD I think I explained how Naruto learned the hiraishin. I noticed that any pictures of the Fourth Hokage in the anime always showed him holding up a Flying Thunder God kunai that sported his seal formula. Naruto simply studied that. Of course he couldn't get it one hundred percent correct and as such he had to adjust it but he gets the same result. As for where Naruto went. He never stayed in one place. He moved all over, mostly to stay under the radar and also to learn as much as he could. I'll elaborate on that in future chapters. No there won't be any shipping. I'm not really a romance writer so I stay away from it.

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**meeresstern1983**: Jip you got it mostly right. The purpose of Sasuke's genjutsu however was to confuse the victim to the point where they couldn't tell who they were really loyal to anymore and as such would be desperate enough to latch onto any sort of authority figure and tell them everything they wanted to know. Only it didn't go quite as planned. Shhhh, here's a little secret. They never caught Naruto to begin with but they think they did.

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**TigrezzTail**: Yes the rescue the Kazekage mission does take place. It's why they're torturing him in the first place.

**As always, if you have any more questions, leave a review. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks to my both my Betas,TheGreatBubbaJ and Jenny-Cat-Miaow. Be patient with the Betas guys. They have lives too.**

**Thanks for all the reviews and for taking the time to read my messed up fic.**

**As always, reviews will be answered at the bottom of the chapter. This is the last chapter of Naruto's memories.**

**Chapter 10**

* * *

**Konoha Present time**

"Alright Kakashi, I finished the seals you asked for. This second one is a gamble though and it's based entirely upon assumptions and what you described to me. Whoever that kid is, he knows some complicated seals. I shudder to think what he's truly capable of if they're his own designs." Jiraiya stated, setting down the two seals.

"I hope we never need to find out." Kakashi muttered, looking over the seals.

"True. Anyways, it's quite interesting to note that he uses a lot of the Uzumaki Sealing style within his design." Jiraiya pointed to several aspects of the seal that were indeed purely Uzumaki in conception.

"You don't think he found one of the survivors. I know there are some, not many, but some." Kakashi frowned.

"At this point, nothing would surprise me. Except maybe you suddenly agreeing to Guy's challenges with enthusiasm and you suddenly dropping the whole Icha Icha thing. That wouldn't only surprise me, it would terrify me." Jiraiya informed him with a sagely nod.

Kakashi smiled briefly before glancing at the seals and sighing deeply. He, in truth, did not want to execute his next course of action, but it was his only chance at getting anything out of the mysterious ninja.

* * *

**Nin's Memories. **

Kakashi barely convinced Nin to report to the Hokage first before just leaving. As such, Nin's impatience was growing as he waited for the team that was supposed to go with them as back up. He really did not have time for this and he really had no need for a backup team.

"I'm assigning Konohamaru, Asuma, Shikamaru and Neji to help you in this mission and to keep an eye on you all. I want this mission to be a clean cut one. No failures. Understood?" Tsunade had taken to glaring at them rather pointedly as the afore mentioned Shinobi filed into the room, apparently having already been briefed.

"No." Nin stated suddenly, his tone a growl of intimidation that dared the Hokage to contradict him.

"No?" Tsunade replied, her tone a challenge in itself.

"Konohamaru will not be going on this mission. Rather send the ANBU behind you to your left but the boy stays here." Nin replied firmly, waving a hand dismissively at the mention of the ANBU.

"No way! I'm going." Konohamaru protested but a single glare from Nin shut him up and he backed away, knowing full well that those glares never led to anything good if you persisted.

"You're strong Konohamaru, for a genin. You only just got promoted to chunin. You're not yet old enough nor strong enough to play my games." Nin said quietly, his gaze softening as he looked at the grumpy Sarutobi.

"Is this all a game to you?" Shizune asked, her voice betraying her mortification.

"Yes. The Akatsuki and I have a tally of sorts. Only the price we pay for failure are much higher stakes than one would play for over a game of Shogi. But I don't have time to explain all this. We need to leave." Nin answered distantly, his thoughts more focused on how quickly he could get there, and that depended entirely on how much he could push the people he was with.

"We're not leaving until I address an issue that I've come to realise." Sasuke stated quietly, his tone not even changing from its usual drawl.

Nin said nothing. Only glared at the Uchiha who turned to face the Hokage. "Menma's plan is flawed. He's going to pretend to be Naruto so that the Akatsuki don't attack the Leaf but he plans to leave straight after the mission. Short term, it solves a problem but it's only a temporary solution. I don't see how this helps us out in the long run."

"He has a point." Kakashi supported, standing a little straighter.

"In truth, we cannot afford to harbour Menma longer than this mission. The other nations are going to begin questioning the Kage's sudden death and many are starting to doubt its validity. While no one denies that someone got blown up at the chunin exams in Suna, they're starting to question whether it truly was the Kage. With Team 7's sudden acquisition of a new mysterious member, someone is going to put the pieces together. It'll become far too hazardous to Konoha to allow him to stay." Tsunade began, her eyes closed and her tone weary. "This was only ever meant to be a temporary situation, one I only agreed to because of our alliance with Suna."

Nin paused at that, his thoughts momentarily frozen. Even though he'd been planning on leaving anyways, his job here purely having been to assess his old Team and to antagonise Sasuke into seeking revenge from Itachi once more – not that he'd been doing a brilliant job of that – it still stung to hear that Tsunade had been planning on giving him his marching orders, using him to benefit her and the village. Truthfully, any Kage would and Nin held no grudge against her for it.

"Fine issue solved. Can we go now?" Nin snapped impatiently, just barely managing to stop himself from bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Why are you so eager to go to Suna?" Tsunade asked, her gaze sharp.

"HE'S MY FRIEND! ONE OF MY FEW PRECIOUS PEOPLE!" Nin exploded, his anger having tripled at that ludicrous questions. How could she have been so cold? Why were they hesitating? They should have left already and if they didn't leave soon he was going without them.

"I mean, I owe him a favour and as such a must protect him from harm, even at the cost of my own personal connections and goals." Nin toned it down drastically, falling back to a reserved manner. He couldn't allow anything personal to leak through even if it was semi too late for that.

All was silent as they stared at him and he at Tsunade. Waiting.

"Alright. Cat, you'll go with them. The mask will remain on. I believe you work well with Hatake anyways. Konohamaru, you'll remain behind and don't even bother protesting. Move out." Tsunade's orders were sharp and left no room for argument or interruption.

Finally.

Not waiting for anyone else to even try and make any statements that just might prevent them from leaving, Nin strode to the door and yanked it open. He did not have the time to be waiting around. Didn't they understand that?

As he passed the door his eyes slid over to Konohamaru who was watching him with an expression that was both angry and concerned. Translation: I'm mad at you that you won't let me come but I understand. Just be safe.

He spared the boy the tiniest of nods to acknowledge his feelings before time sped up once again. Forgoing the next door, Nin jumped straight out of a window. This next mission was going to be tricky. For one thing, he was limited to Naruto's capabilities. While Naruto would be expected to have improved in the last four years, he was still considered a dead last with little to no chance of ever succeeding.

That meant that a large portion of his arsenal would not be applicable. Too bad. He had some fairly satisfying assassination jutsus. Satisfying for Nin never meant pleasant for the enemy. Now did that mean he could use the Rasengan? Naruto had known it but he, as Nin, should not. He was going to have to get creative with Wind style, a style he'd avoided using thus far because it was his strongest, and his shadow clones.

Nin couldn't help but wonder just who their opponents would be. Knowing Pein, it would probably be Sasori and by default Deidera. Zetsu was bound to be around somewhere so he'd have to be careful.

Nin reached the gate exactly 8 minutes and 43 seconds before the others, not that he'd been counting. They landed around him, each giving him a sour look. It was the dead of night and they were leaving on a mission at Nin's insistence. Understandably, they were not going to be his friend right now. That was alright, he didn't need their friendship, only their co-operation.

"Are you sure you're up for this? You were drinking pretty heavily earlier." Asuma asked, being the first to break the silence.

Rolling his eyes Nin clasped his hands together in a seal. Facing away from the other Shinobi, he sucked in a lung full of air while concentrating on the alcohol in his system. Slowly he blew out the air trapped in his lungs and the smallest, most delicate stream of fire escaped from his mouth, the colours oddly green, blue and red. The Konoha Shinobi could only watch in amazement as the chakra and alcohol induced flame spread across a small patch of the sky in a swirling display of elegant designs, lighting up the area they were standing in. The oddly coloured patterns of fire began to dissolve; making the sky look as if it were sparkling before those tiny sparks fizzled out, leaving impressions upon their visions.

"There happy?" Nin asked. "All the alcohol is now removed from my bloodstream. Now that aside, I'm not waiting for anyone and I'm moving quickly. If you can't keep up, don't bother coming. I'm sure your Hokage will understand."

Tsunade hadn't actually appointed a team leader so that left it up to them to decide. Nin wasn't leaving them much choice. Yet no one made a move to leave and Nin hadn't expected any of them to. They were Shinobi of the Leaf. Loyal to the point of stupidity.

"I think we all agree that you'll be in charge of this mission for now, Menma. However there will be breaks, there will be moderation and should I deem it necessary I will take over as team leader." Kakashi said firmly, his expression so far from its casual laziness that it was hard to believe that he acted like that at all.

Nin didn't reply. He simply placed his hands together in another seal and his appearance wavered before the henged version of Naruto stood in front of them.

"Let's go." Snapped a voice eerily close to Naruto's and it was only the impatience lacing that tone that made them all immediately move instead of standing there gapping at the now orange clad ninja.

Nin would never admit it but he'd been using a henge for so long that he didn't actually know how he really looked. In fact his Naruto henge was based entirely on his own perceptions of what he was supposed to look like. The thought of simply dropping his other henge had occurred to him but he'd become so psychologically dependant on the disguise that he simply could not drop it unless he was physically unable to maintain it.

They moved through the trees at a speed that was most likely far more taxing on the Konoha ninja than it was for Nin. They weren't used to speed and endurance at the same time. They weren't constantly running, running away from the enemy, running so that they weren't spotted . . . but mostly running away from themselves.

It was only because of his time as Menma in the Leaf village, the time that had messed around with his emotions and objectives, that Nin raised a hand to signal the team to stop. It was roughly three hours before dawn and he'd give them that long before they were moving out once again.

"We'll set up camp here. We move out again at dawn so if you're tired I suggest you get some sleep now." Nin stated, his voice completely void of emotion.

"Kakashi, the closer we get to Suna, the more the possibility of us being watched will grow. Among the Akatsuki there is a Shinobi called Zetsu. He acts mostly as a spy for the Akatsuki and will be close by so that he may observe the events that take place in Suna. As such, you will have to appear to be team leader." Nin instructed and explained as the copy-nin of Konoha landed on the branch next to him.

Kakashi stared at him silently for a moment before he nodded once and dropped down to the ground, the ANBU following him. Kakashi said something to the ANBU and Cat nodded before walking into the centre of the clearing they had stopped in. Nin watched in mild fascination as Cat preformed a few quick hand signs before slamming a hand to the ground, essentially causing a wood style house to grow right up from the ground itself. A fricken house!?

So this ANBU had the Wood Style Kekkei Genkai of the First Hokage. Interesting. Did he have the suppressing powers of the First as well? It would complicate matters should Nin ever have the need to use Kyuubi's chakra.

Nin merely watched as Asuma, Shikamaru, Neji and Sakura entered the house. Sasuke, Kakashi and Cat remained outside, apparently discussing something amongst themselves.

Nin dropped down to the ground and strolled past them. He'd already set up trap jutsus around the perimeter of the clearing, so he'd know if anyone approached. There would be no need for a guard. He wasn't doing it so that everyone would be well rested for the fight ahead. No, he was just that paranoid about his own protection.

As he passed the three conversing ninja, their voices lowered considerably, but he ignored them. He pushed open the door and walked into the wooden house, observing as he walked. It was a surprisingly complex design and quite nice as well. The only problem Nin had was the complete bareness of it. It was just the house and that was all. Well there was only so much you could do with wood.

Asuma was already pulling out his sleeping bag and setting it up. Sakura was sorting out her mission pack. Shikamaru was simply lying on the ground, arms under his head and completely unfazed by everything that was happening around him.

Nin walked over to one of the windows and leaned against the wall next to it so that he could stare out into the dark forest around them, not really interested in the Shinobi on this mission with him. They were pawns that would merely get in his way but he had to co-operate with them. It was more annoying than when he had first started teaching Konohamaru.

"Alright, that's it. What the hell is your problem?!" Sakura snapped suddenly. Nin didn't even turn around to look at her. He simply ignored her. "Whatever problems you have right now should have been left at the village. We're on an important mission right now and we need to work together." Sakura continued, her voice betraying her pain. She truly felt hurt by Nin's rejection.

"I know exactly how important this mission is, Sakura. As for working together, I hardly think so. You're all only going to get in my way." Nin replied, still staring out at the window.

"It defeats the point if you're trying to do everything on your own."

Sasuke appeared to be leaning against the other side of the wall, only on the outside of the house rather than the inside.

"Quite frankly, I don't give a damn." Nin replied.

"Ever since we left the Hokage's office you've been acting like a complete jerk! What is with you?" Sakura demanded. "You can't tell me that you're that upset by it."

"You don't know me. For all you know this is how I usually am. You only know that which I chose to show you but you can't be sure if it was the truth or if it was all an act." Nin stated quietly, thoughtfully.

"Personally, I think it's all an act. Even the way you are now." Shikamaru interrupted. "Which makes me wonder who the real you is and what you're really doing here. I have no doubt that your loyalties to the Kazekage are real but I have to wonder about your intentions on this mission. After all you're willing to parade around as Naruto, supposedly for the Leaf's own benefit no matter how temporary, yet you do not have any _apparent_ loyalties to anyone within the Leaf."

"Sharp as ever I see." Nin muttered to himself but otherwise he didn't answer the questions that were presented with those words.

What was his purpose here? Well that was all a part of the plan. Simple as that and by the time the Leaf realised their mistake it would be far too late. He wondered if Shikamaru saw the mistake.

"You shouldn't be so quick to accept a comradeship, Sakura. I was only ever a temporary replacement remember? I really don't see why you're getting so worked up over all this. You should get some rest, after all we leave at dawn." Nin reminded again in a soft superior tone that could rival a Hyuuga's before he disappeared into the shadows of the dimly lit house, reappearing in the shadows of the trees outside in the forest.

He turned his gaze behind him for a moment.

"_I don't know why you're getting so worked up Naruto. It's just the way we voted." Sasuke commented in a cool, level headed tone that made the blond genin steam in anger._

"_It's not a vote if everyone doesn't get a say in it!" Naruto yelled back._

"_Oh, you wanted a say? Didn't you know that dead lasts like you don't get a 'say' in anything." Sasuke sneered in reply before walking away, leaving Naruto with the task of sorting through all of Konoha's trash to find their latest mission, a mistakenly thrown away bobby pin for some important Nobleman's wife. Sakura and Sasuke hadn't wanted to get into the trash heap and had ditched Naruto there, stating it was a vote and that they'd vote on every mission where they didn't need everyone's participation. _

_With a sigh Naruto turned back to the large trash heap and created several clones. This was going to take a while. _

Nin angrily shook the memories away. They had no place here and were acting as nothing more than a distraction.

* * *

At dawn they were ready to leave, waiting for the order to move out. Nin was silent for a moment as he considered his next move. "Asuma, Neji, Shikamaru and Cat. It would be best if you followed from a distance and acted as the back up the enemy doesn't know we have. You could even take a different path from us but that will be slightly more difficult since we do not yet know where our end destination is."

Four ninja jumped into the trees but Nin didn't miss the signal that they all looked to Kakashi for. So it seemed they were allowing him to believe he was in charge while all taking orders from Kakashi. Oh well. By the end of this mission it wouldn't matter anyway.

Team 7 leapt up into the trees making their way for Suna once again. After this point Nin had to act like Naruto and that was going to be painful. Would it be simpler to just construct a new personality to take over?

No. That was far too dangerous since there was always a possibility of that personality revealing too much, just as Menma had.

Suna came into view far sooner than the usual three day journey and it was mostly because of the speed Nin forced Team 7 to follow him at. Nin remained in the lead even after crossing the border because he knew Suna almost as well as he knew Konoha. Team 7 needed a guide to get through the desert as quickly as possible.

When the village came into view fully, no longer a hazy blob in the distance, Nin allowed Kakashi to lead as he mentally shifted his persona slightly so that he'd be more like Naruto.

There was something wrong. He could sense it in the despondent tension seeping through the air around the village, infecting it like a plague. Did that mean they were too late?

A large pile of rubble alerted them to the fact that something had happened at the entrance to the village. Not good. Not good at all. He knew they should have left sooner.

"Halt!"

Kakashi held up a hand to signal the team to stop. While Kakashi explained his presence to the Sand Shinobi guards and informed them of the backup team still coming, Nin scanned the area. Things were not looking good at all. He couldn't sense Gaara's presence in the village.

"Come this way." Nin retuned his attention to the Sand ninja and saw that the jonin Baki was there now as well. Baki's gaze slid to him, taking in his Naruto henge. "I didn't know that Uzumaki had been found."

"He hasn't. It's a disguise to fool the Akatsuki." Sasuke state gruffly. Huh. So it seemed that the Uchiha was choosing to abandon the disguise entirely. Or perhaps he deemed certain people important enough to know the truth. If he decided to tell everyone then the plan wouldn't work quite as well. After all there were several ways that this could work Nin's his favour. And it all began with Konohamaru. He'd known that the boy would follow him. The boy had always done so. Why would a disguise keep him away?

Konohamaru's purpose? The chunin exams. Konoha was painfully predictable and he knew that Konohamaru would automatically be entered into the chunin exams, just to see what progress he'd made. What Nin had been aiming for, was the public exposure for his 'death' and for the attention he'd gain in training Konohamaru. Attention from both the Leaf and the Akatsuki.

That had been phase one of his plan. He was currently in phase two. A phase he had nearly failed. Soon he would be in phase three.  
Nin's thought process was interrupted when a large closed fan tried to bash his skull in. Nin simply ducked, instinct taking over. He completely forgot that he was supposed to be acting like Naruto.

"FOOL! What the hell took you so long?!"

Nin ducked as the fan came back around once more. He grimaced as he turned to face Temari. She looked as though she'd been crying. "They just bought back Kankuro! The idiot went after the Akatsuki BY HIMSELF!" Temari yelled, venting out her frustrations. Nin let her, allowing her to poke him roughly on the shoulder as though he had been the personal cause of all her troubles. He wasn't ignorant of the other signs of emotion she was showing, the way her bottom lip trembled, or the way her voice shook ever so slightly. Ever her eyes shone with the unnatural light of unshed tears.

"They took Gaara." And then her arms were around him, those tears just barely being stopped from leaking onto his shoulder. "You're supposed to protect him." Temari whispered accusingly.

"I'll bring him back." Nin promised firmly. He took note of their surroundings, since he'd been lost in thought on the way here. They appeared to be in a secluded room in the Suna Hokage Tower. "I'll leave as soon as I've looked at Kankuro but I need you to let go of me so that I can." Nin continued rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"The medics are looking at him now." Temari sniffed, regaining her composure and pulling away from him.

"It was Sasori of the Red Sand, wasn't it?" Nin asked carefully.

"Yes. It's all Kankuro managed to say before he passed out again." Temari's fist tightened in anger and she looked away.

"Then they will not be able to help him." Nin was confident in this fact. He was rather intimate with the inner workings of the Akatsuki. Too bad they couldn't say the same about him.

"Baki went to get Lady Chiyo." Kakashi suddenly interrupted. Nin glanced at the uncomfortable members of Team 7.

"Let me see him then, while we wait." Nin urged the blond sand Shinobi.

"He's just down the hall." Temari sighed, walking to the door. "Oh and Nin, you're not doing a very good job at pretending to be Naruto. You should act a little more clueless, look lost half the time like you're not even certain how to breathe." Temari added over her shoulder.

Nin wilted slightly and mumbled, "So mean."

Team 7 and Nin followed as Temari, her expression once again the strength of the oldest of the Suna siblings, led them to where Kankuro was being treated.

"Leave. The Leaf will take over from here." Temari stated, her tone completely void of any emotion.

The medics bowed before leaving the room, glancing back at a withering Kankuro as they did so. Nin walked over to Kankuro and raised a hand glowing with blur chakra. He was no medic-nin and his medical ninjutsu was nothing compared to Sakura's but he knew things that she didn't.

"Ah. So Sasori used his latest trick. Nasty one. Leaves you in pain for three days before killing you. At the currently moment there is no cure. However, I believe that Sakura has the expertise to make one." Nin announced.

"Can _you_ do anything for him?" Temari asked, stepping forward.

In reply to her question Nin removed the bag from his back. He'd made the bag appear through the henge so that it looked like Naruto was actually carrying one. He unsealed it before reaching in and pulling out a piece of paper, an ink brush and an ink pot. He sealed his bag again before beginning to paint a seal onto the paper. His strokes were sure sharp connected lines that decorated the paper in a spiky array of confusion.

Holding the completed seal in one hand, Nin traced two chakra infused fingers over Kankuro's chest. He paused for a moment, muttering to himself all the while before continuing his path. The seal in Nin's other hand was slowly starting to light up with blue chakra, the paper actually starting to emit a crinkling sound as it smoked slightly. Nin's fingers paused once more and he tapped the spot just above Kankuro's rib. Suddenly he slammed the chakra infused seal onto the spot where he had paused and the paper burned away completely, leaving only the spikey ink.

"I've never seen seals used quite like this when it came to medical applications." Sakura breathed in awe.

"He just made that. In five seconds." Kakashi sighed, his visible eye wide. Not even Minato had managed to create seals spontaneously. He'd just invented ones with wide range usage.

Nin's hand glowed once again before it was surrounded by a bubble of water. He placed his water covered hand over the seal on Kankuro chest, focusing his chakra into the seal. It glowed a bright luminous green in activation, spreading around Kankuro's body like a plague.

Kankuro yelled out in surprise, his eyes flying open as Nin gritted his teeth in concentration.

"Sit still Kankuro." Nin snapped at the wide-eyed, probably choking Shinobi. All he got was a growl and a glare in reply. He didn't blame the other teen. This was a painful process, excruciating even. Yet he did not have time to be gentle. The water surrounding Nin's hand began to change colour, to fill with a dark sickly ink like substance that was slow in coming. It appeared to be coming out of the seal.

When Nin pulled his hand away he focused on the water, hardening its density so that he could place the now sphere of water in his palm without fear of it disintegrating. The moment he'd lifted his hand, the seal had begun to retreat before dulling to black once more and fading out of existence all together.

Nin walked over to Sakura, the sphere of water in his out stretched hand. Within the sphere the poison swirled and danced to a deadly tune of motion. One tiny scratch was all it too. He had to be careful.

"You should analyse this and find an antidote. We'll need it if we're to fight Sasori without fear of infection. I do not have time to perform an extraction should anyone get hit." Nin advised and a shaky Sakura took the sphere with wide eyes. "And I'd put that into a container. It's rather troublesome to keep it so dense you know."

Sakura hurried to find a container of some sort. Any true medical facility had to have at least some.

Nin turned back to Kankuro. Temarui was running a hand through his hair as the Suna nin slept fitfully. His body was exhausted yet his mind was so troubled that he was probably not getting any rest at all.

"Here." Nin offered, placing a finger on Kankuro's forehead and sending a small pulse of chakra through it. A small seal appeared on Kankuro's skin before his body went slack and his breathing evened out. "His mind should be calm now, allowing him to get some rest. He'll probably be a grouch when he wakes up though." Nin explained.

Sasuke watched the other Shinobi silently, almost melting into the background. He was like a completely different person with the sand siblings. His care for them was real, not at all an act. It made Sasuke realise just how much Nin had been acting while he was with them. Had he considered Team 7 and the rest of the Konoha Shinobi allies at all? Or had he seen it merely as a convenient way to 'play' with the Akatsuki all along?

What about Naruto? Nin was supposed to help him find the Uzumaki, but what now?

But then, Nin had never agreed to helping him. He'd nervously stated that he'd have to see what he could find out and then he'd have to figure out if it was something within his capabilities. He'd laughed about his reputation being far more than what he was truly capable of. Yet Sasuke doubted that. No one would want a reputation that was greater than they themselves were in reality. It was the surest way to die. It would attract challenges that you could never hope to face up to.

No, Nin was the kind of Shinobi that killed rumours off just so that everyone would under-estimate him, leaving only enough to cause intimidation. So just who the hell was he really?

"Nin, why did you take so long?" Temari whispered. "You promised that this wouldn't end badly."

Nin sighed before he pulled Temari into a hug. "It's not too late Temari. I'll get him back. I'm just waiting for Sakura to make an antidote so that I can help others should they get infected by Sasori's poison. I'm going to get him back, and I'm going to make sure he comes back alive. I promise."

"Shinobi of the Leaf offering out promises so freely."

Temari stiffened in Nin's hold but Nin didn't react at all other than to reply in a bland tone. "I'm not one to easily give my word, because when I do I live by it. I will not stop until I have fulfilled it, Lady Chiyo."

"I see my presence here is unneeded." The old kunoichi sniffed.

"Hardly. Our opponent is Sasori of the Red Sand. I'm sure that is something we'll need your help with." Nin disputed. "Now that you're here, I actually have a different idea of how things are going to unfold."

"You, youngster, shouldn't be the one calling the shots. Your team captain should." Lady Chiyo scolded.

"How do you know that I'm not the team captain?" Nin rose an eyebrow, turning to face Lady Chiyo as Temari pushed away from him but not ungently.

"Because I know that old Slug Queen Tsunade. She'd have put Hatake in charge and not some upstart."

"On the contrary, Lady Tsunade didn't actually assign a team captain." Kakashi interrupted with a grin. "So I believe it's wise to hear Naruto's plan."

So Lady Chiyo was not considered to be one of the people that needed to know the truth. Interesting.

"Well, if Lady Chiyo wants to join us, then I believe that Sasuke, Kakashi and myself should go after Gaara while Sakura works on the antidote and joins us later when she has it." Nin stated, watching Lady Chiyo carefully.

"The girl will never catch up to us if that is your plan. Sasori has always had a gift for making complicated poisons. While I've no doubt that the girl is good, there's no way she'll come up with an antidote." Lady Chiyo seemed adamant about this. "There's only one person in the world that stands a chance and that's the Slug Queen Tsunade."

"So not even the personal apprentice of Tsunade herself would be enough?" Nin asked sweetly.

Lady Chiyo was good at hiding her true feelings but she could stop the tiny flicker of surprise that crossed her features at that statement. She couldn't believe that the Leaf had sent someone so qualified. When she'd heard that the Leaf were sending over a support team, she'd believed with every fibre of her being that they'd do so only to keep up with the alliance and as such would send some low level rookie team that would be more underfoot than of help.

Team 7 however, was not what she'd been expecting at all, much less Tsunade's personal apprentice. Then there was the backup team, which held members just as prominent as Team 7 with two members of the feared Konoha 11, an ANBU and Asuma Sarutobi. Tsunade hadn't held back at all.

Then again, the Leaf was teeming with power house Shinobi. The old Slug Queen probably had plenty to spare.

Lady Chiyo knew that was irrational but an old woman was allowed to be childish. She'd lived long enough and seen enough to deserve it.

The only mystery member on the entire support team was this so called Naruto. He was nothing like she'd expected from what she'd heard of the Leaf's missing Jinchuriki. He, for one thing, was calculating, smart and disciplined in a way that was so subconscious it could only be achieved through a constant strive for nothing less than perfection. This was not Naruto, yet the Leaf wanted the elemental nations to believe it was. Well, he wasn't the village idiot that had been first described, not anymore.

"I will go with you. Sasori is my responsibility. I should have taken care of him years ago." Lady Chiyo stated quietly, firmly. She'd been waiting for a chance like this for years. "I will prepare a few items and then we can leave."

"I politely request that you take time into consideration. I wish to stop the Akatsuki from extracting the tailed beast within Gaara." Nin replied, his gaze deadly serious.

Lady Chiyo didn't say anything more, only walked back out of the room.

"From this point onwards, Kakashi will be team captain." Nin announced before his focused expression slid from his features and was replaced with a dopey smile. "After all, how can the dead last be team captain?" He grinned.

"Don't refer to him as that." Sasuke stated very quietly.

"As what? A dead last?" Nin asked, his features showing over-exaggerated confusion.

Sasuke appeared in front of him so fast that Nin hadn't even finished that sentence yet. The Uchiha gripped the front of Nin's jacket, mentally marvelling at how real the supposed illusion felt, and yanked the other Shinobi closer. He narrowed his eyes, activating his Sharingan. "Don't refer to him as that." This time the threat of harm was very clear.

"Now, now you two. Cool it and save it for the Akatsuki." Kakashi said with false cheerfulness as he pulled the two of them apart.

Nin couldn't help but feel how similar that had been to many situations before. Kakashi always had to pull him and Sasuke apart. The last time had been on top of the hospital roof when Naruto and Sasuke had been about to clash, Rasengan to Chidori. Naruto hadn't stayed long enough to receive the lecture. He'd shot Sasuke a withering glare that no one but the Uchiha had understood before he'd growled, _"You'll be sorry."_ Then he'd jumped off the roof and gone to Ichiraku's where he'd met Iruka. That had been the last day he'd been in Konoha.

"Yeah, come on Sasuke, we're supposed to be friends. We're on the same team here." Nin grinned, sounding as cheerful as he could.

"Just remember what I said and we'll get along just fine, _Naruto_." Sasuke replied coldly.

* * *

Kankuro had woken up long enough to give Nin a strange look before deciding it wasn't worth it to say anything more than, "What the hell took you so long?" and to tell them to "Hurry the hell up and follow Gaara's sand."

So that was what they were doing. Kakashi was in the lead, followed by Sasuke and Nin flanking him with Lady Chiyo bringing up the rear. Further behind them still, Nin could faintly sense the back up team.

"We're going to reach the border soon. The terrain will change from sand to trees." Nin announced. No one needed to reply. Only Lady Chiyo reacted. She ran a little faster so that she was next to Kakashi. She said something to him and he listened intently before turning to her with a grin seen in the curving of his one eye and replying to her.

Neither Sasuke nor Nin knew what had been said but it seemed to pacify Lady Chiyo for now.

"Oh and I thought I might add. One of my shadow clones is keeping Sasori and Deidera from getting very far." Nin stated cheerfully. The clone itself was perhaps another hour's, perhaps two, run from where they currently were. Deidera and Sasori were getting very frustrated with it.

"Oh, that's surprisingly well thought out Naruto." Kakashi shot him a one-eyed grin.

Surprising? That wasn't very nice. He had shadow clones all over the place. They were great at gathering information. They never got caught, in the long run anyways. Sometimes they allowed themselves to get caught just so that they could gather more information or so that they could complete some other task before they would dispel. That was where half his rumours stemmed from and partly the reason most ninja hated him so much. His proficient used of the shadow clones was unrivalled by any other. He was actually amused by the amount of times he'd been told via shadow clone that he isn't all that and what's the big deal all about. That whole speech became really old really fast. They all forgot about the fact that he never did anything in person, most times, and were always so surprised with it turned out to be a shadow clone, again.

The terrain under his feet changed from the laborious trudging through sand, the soft yet far more solid terrain of grass covered earth. Some unspoken signal was followed because they all immediately jumped to the trees.

_Hold on Gaara, I'm coming. _

* * *

The sound of kunai hitting kunai alerted them to a battle up ahead. Kakashi held up a hand for them to stop and they did. Nin knew that it was his shadow clone engaging the enemy. Things must be getting desperate for the clone to show itself and actually engage in direct combat.

Nin lunged forwards without waiting for the order to do so. Naruto wasn't exactly known for his patience so it would work in his favour either way. Since he was Naruto, he never was very patient, no matter what disguise he wore.

"Naruto!" Kakashi hissed, trying to yell yet be quiet at the same time.

Nin ignored him and dropped to the ground. He weaved in and out of the trees before breaking out of them and coming into a small clearing. Sasori of the Red Sand was battling with his clone but Deidera was nowhere in sight and neither was Gaara. Darn it. They must have split up to save time.

The clone glanced at him, also in the guise of Naruto before he nodded and disappeared into the shadows with a salute.

"So I've been playing with a clone. How annoying." Sasori commented. "The clone is surprisingly durable."

"Not quite as durable as the real thing." Nin grinned, raising his own kunai. Kakashi Sasuke and Lady Chiyo dropped down next to him, having no choice but to. "Where's Gaara!? I want him back!" Nin demanded.

"I never imagined the Leaf would be so invested in the wellbeing of the Sand." Sasori said instead of answering.

"I bet he's with the other one, your partner. I'll find him!" Nin continued, using the same blind stupid determination that Naruto had.

"You'll have to get through me first." Sasori challenged, the metal tail snaking out from under his cloak.

Next to him, Nin could feel Lady Chiyo's emotional turmoil through her chakra. This was after all, her grandson. The last of her family and he had turned himself into a monster. He didn't envy her at all.

Nin grinned at the challenge. His top priority right now was to regain Gaara. After that, he could play with the Akatsuki to his heart's content. Dashing forwards without order once again Nin created three shadow clones that ran with him.

Sasori used his metal tail to dispose of the clones but they were only the distraction. As Sasori's tail shot upwards for the first clone, Nin slid across the floor, ducking under it. Before Sasori's tail could do anything more the remaining clones dashed in for the attack, leaving Nin free to keep on going.

"I'm going to get Gaara!" Nin yelled over his shoulder. Kakashi cursed before making a move to follow him.

"Sasuke, you stick with Lady Chiyo. Your Sharingan and her experience will be better suited for this task. Good luck." Kakashi added over his shoulder.

"I hope you're fast boy. You'll need to be in order to win against Sasori." Lady Chiyo informed the sneering Uchiha. "If those rumours about you are even half true, we should be done here in no time."

* * *

Nin had caught up to Deidera and his giant clay bird just as he was entering the Akatsuki's hide out. The large stone door lowered and the seal activated.

"I'm not that easy to keep out." Nin muttered to himself as he watched from the shadows of the forest.

"Stop running off like that." Kakashi growled when he caught up.

"I'm supposed to be impossibly impulsive, remember?" Nin replied jumping down from the tree and continuing to the river in front of the stone.

He placed a hand on the stone and was met with the barrier. He tried sending a tiny amount of chakra into it to see what would happen. The barrier rippled but held, only getting stronger due to the attempt. "There'll be five paper seals in the area, starting with this one. If we're to get in here, we'll need to remove those. However I don't want to remove them." Nin was talking more to himself.

"If you don't want to remove them, then how do we get in?" Kakashi deadpanned.

"Well firstly, if we want to find the seals, we'll have to wait for Neji and that'll take too long. And I want to use this seal to our advantage. I'm going to rewrite it. It'll be a little harder than usual, considering it's currently active but it's not impossible." Nin explained, reaching for a kunai and slicing into his thumb. "As this is an Akatsuki seal, it'll have Akatsuki level security. That means I have to counter it with methods just as powerful. A blood seal."

Nin began to paint his blood over the already existing seal, fuelling it with a continuous stream of chakra as he did so. Kakashi blinked once again when he saw the practised ease Nin executed while doing this. He was also currently standing sideways on the boulder so that he could reach the seal. When the seal was completed, it shone with a red wetness atop the active seal. It wasn't being absorbed and integrated into the active seal. Nin frowned at it before focusing his chakra and slamming his hand down into the gleaming red stickiness.

The seal flooded with chakra and began to glow in purple before it burnt away with a sizzle, leaving the seal to look exactly the same as it had before. Kakashi was puzzled by this but he didn't know enough about seals to actually say anything about it. Nin dropped back down to the water and washed his hands in it before straightening and grinning at Kakashi. "Alright. Let's see if that worked."

He put his hands together and the seal on the boulder flashed once with a purple flare. The boulder began to lift once more, obeying Nin's command.

"Sasori my man, you took far too long. Leader is getting impatient. You can't tell me those Leaf brats were that troublesome." Deidera's voice floated to them from inside the hideout. He hadn't even waited for the door to open enough to see who was on the other side.

"Sorry, no Sasori here, but there is a Naruto Uzumaki." Nin grinned.

The projection of Pein and the surprised face of Dederia greeted the two Shinobi as the door lifted out of the way. Pein's form wavered slightly before he spoke, "Uzumaki. I've been looking for you."

"Oh what a coincidence. I've been avoiding you." Nin replied. "But I think you have something you shouldn't. I'm here to take it back."

"Who would have thought the Jinchuriki of the Sand would've have been enough to draw you out. Very well. Deidera, capture him no matter what. We can't let a chance like this slip through our fingers." Then Pein was gone.

"So what happened to Sasori?"

"He's busy." Kakashi replied pulling out a kunai.

Behind Deidera, out of his view, a shadow clone was forming in the darkness. Nin could see Gaara, lying unconscious on the floor where he'd been carelessly dropped. _Forgive me, Gaara. I should have been here sooner. _

Nin dashed forward just as the clone did. He attacked Deidera with a vicious combo of slashes and a wild taijutsu form he hadn't used in years while his clone grabbed Gaara and disappeared out the entrance of the cave faster than what Deidera could stop. Falling into his old fighting style was something that came so naturally to him that he couldn't believe how he'd missed the amount of effort he put into forcing his body to comply with other taijutsu types. Why was this wild unpredictable style so easy for him?

"Hey! That was mine!" Deidera yelled angrily. Nin retreated as Deidera made a swipe for his throat. It wasn't that he couldn't handle Deidera. It was more like he was going for the smarter option here. He had Gaara, now he had to tend to the Kazekage and get him back to Suna. That was the first priority here. It should never have gone this far in the first place but at least he wasn't too late.

Nin grabbed Kakashi and ran out after the clone, placing his hands together in a seal as he passed the doorway. Deidera tried to follow but he wasn't known for his speed. The boulder dropped down, closing the entrance and trapping Deidera inside.

"So that's what you meant by advantage." Kakashi commented, feeling very useless right now. Nin knew what he was doing. He knew the Akatsuki and how to handle them. Kakashi didn't even know what their names were other than Itachi and now Sasori, Deidera and Zetsu. However there was something interesting that he'd seen in the projection just before it had disappeared.

A pair of Rinnegan eyes.

They found the clone in another smaller clearing, standing guard over Gaara. Nin approached him and the clone moved aside. He wasn't going to dispel the clone just yet. The clone could act as a look out and later, he was going to act as a decoy. The clone set up a barrier around the clearing that was more of a genjutsu to fool Zetsu than for protection, should Zetsu be in the area.

"Gaara?" Nin asked softly, gently touching the Sand nin's shoulder. "I'm sorry I'm late. I got held up with regulations." No response. But he was still breathing. "I promise. I won't make you play bait ever again." Nin added very quietly. He was grateful to Kakashi for not saying anything; for attempting to disappear into the shadows.

He hated seeing Gaara like this, so pale and weak. It was entirely his fault too. He shouldn't have dragged Gaara into this. He wouldn't do so again. Even if the Akatsuki were after Gaara anyway, he should've been there to help Gaara to fend them off.

That boulder wouldn't hold Deidera for long. With a sigh Nin checked Gaara over. There weren't any major injuries, a few scrapes and bruises. It was mainly just a case of chakra exhaustion.

"I'll be back soon, just hold onto this." Nin reached into his kunai pouch and pulled out his version of the Flying Thunder God kunai. He put his chakra into the handle and gave it to Kakashi. Nin then lifted Gaara and disappeared, using the Thunder God Kunai he'd placed in Kankuro's room with express instructions to Temari not to let anyone into the room other than Sakura and herself. He didn't want to appear in the room while it was filled with Suna medics.

Temari jerked around when he flashed into the room. She took one look at the limp figure of the Kazekage, her younger brother, before she was running over to him. Before he'd arrived Temari had been forcibly shoving Kankuro back into the bed to stop him from trying to go after Gaara himself.

"Gaara! Is he okay?" Temari was beginning to fuss like a mother over her child. Nin smiled before placing the exhausted Kazekage onto the bed next to Kankuro's.

"He's fine, just tired." Nin assured her. "I have to get back though so I'm going to leave him with you two. Don't lose him, 'kay?"

"Thank-you Naruto." Temari whispered. The sand siblings alone knew of his true identity.

"Anytime. You guys are my precious people. Don't ever forget that." Nin grinned back.

"I just wish you'd go back to the Leaf, kid. It pains Gaara to see you like this." Kankuro muttered, looking away.

"A discussion for another time." Nin waved a hand before focusing on the kunai with Kakashi and reappearing next to him.

Kakashi wordlessly handing him the kunai and Nin took it and replaced it back in his pouch. He'd forgotten the one with Kankuro but he could get that one later.

"Now what?" Kakashi asked.

"Now, we play." Nin grinned in reply before calling the clone over. The clone obeyed immediately before henging into Gaara and falling limp. Nin caught the clone and placed him on the floor where Gaara had been and dispelled the genjutsu, readying another one just in case he needed to use un-Naruto-like methods that he didn't want Zetsu to see. "Deidera will find us soon. He specialises in explosives so try not to stand still."

"I'll keep that in mind." Kakashi muttered darkly. "Before he gets here though, there's something I wanted to ask you. While I realise that this is neither the time nor the place I feel as though I might not get the chance again." Kakashi began readying a kunai just in case.

Nin pretended to be watching over the 'Kazekage' while Kakashi pretended to be keeping guard. "Yeah?" Nin asked, actually curious as to what Kakashi wanted.

"When this mission is over, are you going to be leaving Konoha again?"

Are you going to be leaving Team 7? That was partly what Kakashi wanted to know.

"That isn't your real question, is it? After all you only _just_ asked me to be a permanent member of your squad and as such you won't expect me to already have an answer. What do you really want Kakashi?" Nin replied after a moment's thought.

"Observant and logical. A deadly combination." Kakashi grinned briefly. "And correct. I noticed that ever since you got here, you're been out of sorts. Would you like to talk about it?"

"So you want to know what's really bugging me because you don't believe that it's the reaming we got from the Hokage for your _interesting_ past times. Your observation is somewhat odd since you really wouldn't know what I'm like in general and as such how could you tell that I'm acting out of sorts?" Nin clarified and Kakashi nodded but looked slightly uncomfortable at the statement. However both ignored it. Nin sighed before looking away and muttering. "I don't really answer questions. I usually just ignore them and do what I want. Answering stuff and giving away information is Me– not something I usually do." He'd almost slipped and said Menma's job but Kakashi wouldn't understand that and he'd question it. If he noticed the slip he didn't say so. "However I will answer this, somewhat. Ever since I started training Konohamaru, Konoha has and does continue to surprise me. At the bar . . . when I yelled at you. That was only one of the many frustrations I've been feeling, acting out, moving beyond my control and the only one I will share with you. I was frustrated in that moment because everyone was acting in a way I had not expected." Nin explained, his tone conveying his determination to not say anything further about the matter. In truth, what had been really bugging him in that moment had been Tsunade and her reminder about her preference to have Sasuke as the next Hokage. That coupled with all the irritating concern and Menma's screw up and he felt he was allowed to blow up.

Kakashi understood the need for privacy and as such he did not push the issue. Instead he commented rather thoughtfully, "Well Tsunade is having trouble finding anything on you. Anything from before you became a rouge ninja to afterwards."

"I should hope so. I worked damn hard to make sure I was hard to find." Nin replied. "But enough talk. Look busy because Deidera just broke free. Look up, see the smoke? That's him."

Kakashi's posture straightened and his kunai was gripped tighter. "I'm surprised it took him this long."

"The problem with building that many defences is that it takes you just as long to get out of them as it would take one to get inside of them." Nin grinned with a mischievous maliciousness and Kakashi looked away when that grin was upon the face of Naruto. Such an expression had never been on the blonde face before.

"You're rather gifted in the area of sealing." Kakashi commented.

"Yeah I've picked up a few things. Nothing major." Nin shrugged before kneeling down in front of the clone turned Kazekage and 'checking' his wounds. Suddenly he jerked up and threw a kunai at a bush. His face was contorted in the classic snarl of rage that Naruto usually had as he yelled. "You're going to pay for what you did to Gaara!"

"Honestly I didn't know that you two were that close. Must be a Jinchuriki thing, or you're just that stupid. Hey maybe it's both." Deidera emerged from the bush he'd been crouched in, Nin's kunai in his hand.

"I don't know about the stupid part but I do know that you're not exactly the brightest fire jutsu in the arsenal. You shouldn't have caught that kunai." Nin replied, ignoring the insults in a move completely unlike Naruto and smirking at the blond Akatsuki member.

Deidera looked down at the kunai in confusion. "Why, is it your favourite one?" Deidera sneered, twirling the kunai in his hand.

"Nope." Nin replied before the said kunai whipped out of Deidera's hand and into the air. It flashed in the light once before it exploded into a cloud of smoke and another Naruto was flying through the air, only this time at Deidera. The Akatsuki member laughed before pulling out his own kunai to block the Nin clone, "That's clever kid but not good enough."

"You always did bite off more than you could chew, Deidera. You should never have gone after Gaara knowing that he was under my protection. I warned you and your leader so now you'll feel the consequences. You should never have entered this clearing."

This time, a clone looking like Nin had looked before faking his death and joining Konoha, formed out of the shadows, kunai against Deidera's throat. "The Kage?! He's supposed to be dead!" Deidera still managed to sound adequately outraged even with his adam's apple scrapping against a sharp blade.

"Did you really believe that? If you did you're dumber than I thought you were. Oh well you know what they say about desperate times." The Kage clone chuckled, pressing the kunai closer so that Deidera didn't reply. "You shouldn't have left Sasori's side. You might have stood a chance if you had worked together." He whispered right before he flicked his wrist.

At first it appeared that nothing had happened but then the deep burgundy red of Deidera's blood began to seep from the clean cut across his neck. The look of surprise flittered across his features very briefly before they went slack and he crumpled to the floor. Nin walked over to him, his face completely blank before he swooped down and pulled the ring off of Deidera's finger.

"What just happened?" Kakashi asked in a slightly shell shocked tone.

"Deidera's hands have holes in them in which he absorbs his clay to infuse with his chakra. So I saturated the kunai with an instant chakra suppressant. He couldn't get away from here even if he tried the moment he caught that kunai." Nin explained while the three clones he'd used in the battle dispelled.

"What about Zetsu?" Kakashi replied, nodding slightly.

"Genjutsu. And I suspect that Zetsu is occupied with the other fights." Nin mused looking into the distance.

"Fights? I thought it was only Sasori?"

"No. Two others have engaged the backup team, if what my clone remembers is correct. We should hurry and go take care of Sasori. However I will not be able to use any of the jutsu I used now. Zetsu will know. I can use the transformation one though, not the chakra suppressant. It wouldn't work on Sasori anyway." Nin explained before he jump up into the trees without waiting for Kakashi. "He specialises in poisons and suppressants and he's made of wood. It wouldn't have anywhere to soak into."

Kakashi hesitated only long enough to stare at Deidera's limp form on the ground, the blood pooling around his body in a slightly steaming mess. The fact that Sasori was made of wood was . . . disturbing to say the least.

"I've seen many people being killed, but none quite with that much efficiency." Kakashi muttered but Nin ignored him. There wasn't much to say. "Well at least people that are supposedly that powerful anyways." Kakashi added as an afterthought.

"Never under estimate the Akatsuki. They generally work in two man teams but they never work _together_. That is their flaw. Remember, it was Deidera alone that over powered Gaara, a Jinchuriki. I've just taken advantage of the underestimation people have of the element of surprise and their general lack of paranoia." Nin replied, changing the direction he was going in to a slightly more left one.

How he knew where he was going was anyone's guess and Kakashi couldn't help but once again feel a strong sense of uselessness. He hadn't done anything but get in the way. What was he even doing here? How had this _boy_ gotten so powerful? But then he remembered something he'd said to his genin team on their first C-rank mission, the one with Zabuza and Haku. There were children out there who were stronger than them and there was nothing they could do but work harder. Still, Nin was bordering on ridiculous.

Was this the power of the Sealing Arts? The Village Hidden in the Whirpool had been destroyed because of it. Was this the reason why?

It didn't take them very long to find the aftermath of Sasuke, Lady Chiyo and Sasori's battle. The red haired puppet master was lying on the ground, a gaping hole in his chest where a heart should've been. Around them were the splintered remains of a few puppets but not enough to tell of a glorious battle. In fact it spoke of one very quick, very ugly battle.

Once again Nin approached the fallen Akatsuki member and pulled off the ring, adding it to the first one he'd gotten from Deidera. "Now that's two down and two more to go." Nin muttered to himself. "We should hurry. The fact that this battle appears to have ended so soon means that Sasuke and Lady Chiyo went to help the backup team since they didn't come to help us."

Kakashi didn't reply, his eyes simply lingering on the hole in Sasori's chest. It had the tell-tale signs of charred edges and a highly yet neat destructive pathway. The signs of a lightning blade.

"Hang on, do you sense that?" Kakashi had held up a hand reflexively when he'd sensed the flickering chakra signal. Nin paused and closed his eyes as he stretched out his chakra. "It appears to be the ANBU, Cat."

Kakashi nodded his head in agreement and remained where he was, choosing instead to wait for the approaching ANBU rather than head into the battle. Nin supposed it was smarter to have intel on the situation than to rush in blindly as he'd been doing so far.

So when Cat dropped down in front of them, they were both standing with relaxed postures, readying for any attack that might be coming. Cat took in their expectant expressions and turned to address Kakashi. "Two more members of the Akatsuki showed up. Asuma, Neji, Shikamaru and Lady Chiyo have engaged the one while Sasuke ordered us to leave the other to him. In the absence of your presence we've followed his commands but we feel that it was made in blind anger. I came to get you. I'm assuming that Deidera has been taken care of." Nin didn't miss the way Cat's eyes flickered around, perhaps looking for the Kazekage.

"Deidera is dead and Gaara is already back in Suna." Nin supplied for the ANBU, pulling out a Flying Thunder God kunai by means of explanation.

The ANBU nodded, his gaze flickering back to Kakashi automatically. Kakashi sighed before replying, "Its Itachi isn't it?" to which the ANBU nodded. Nin's gaze darkened and he looked away. Well that complicated matters. He couldn't kill the Uchiha and helping the Uchiha would bring about consequences.

Oh well. A few angry Leaf nin didn't really faze him much. Kakashi had already ordered the next course of action and that was to get Sasuke away from Itachi. Their mission objective was completed, Gaara was safe and back in Suna. They could go home now. The bonus for them was the death of two of the Akatsuki members.

Nin followed Kakashi as he made his way back to Sasuke and the others. Itachi's partner was Kisame and he was a handful at the best of times. Imagine what he was like during the worst. Kisame was especially troublesome near water so he hoped they weren't near the river. It would only give Kisame the advantage.

It seemed they were in luck since they were heading back towards Suna, where the desert was but he knew that they'd never get to the desert. Cat was already slowing down.

"Cat, it'll be your job to restrain Sasuke long enough for us to get out of there." Kakashi stated and the ANBU nodded. "N-Naruto. Can you make sure Itachi and his partner leave?" Still keeping up pretences huh? How thoughtful of him. It was amusing to see him stutter on the name though.

"Sure." Nin replied with a wolfish grin that Kakashi didn't see. Perfect. This was his opportunity.

The sounds of battle reached them, coming from just the other side of the trees. Kakashi nodded, giving them the signal. Cat went first, followed by Kakashi and Nin. Pillars of wood shot from the ground wrapping around Sasuke who'd been about to attack Itachi, restraining the enraged Uchiha. His eyes were beyond reason, the blood red of the Sharingan blazing his hatred of his older brother who watched him coolly, his own red eyes void of any and all emotions.

Before Nin could fulfil his part Sasuke let loose a Chidori with enough range and power to completely splinter out of Cat's hold. He was going right for Itachi, his speed something only comparable to that of sound.

And not a single member of the Leaf made a move to stop him. Itachi was good but he didn't have the speed he used to. Nin knew that. He'd been watching the older Uchiha for years. Itachi Uchiha was a very unhealthy Shinobi, kept going only through sheer force of will. His Mangekyo Sharingan had all but blinded him so he probably couldn't even fully judge Sasuke's distance.

The problem was, Itachi didn't want to dodge Sasuke's attack. He wanted his baby brother to kill him. Sasuke killing Itachi right now would bring him an honour and a glory in the hidden Leaf that would secure his place as the next Hokage.

Nin could not allow that.

He threw the Thunder God Kunai without thinking, catching it just in time to block Sasuke's sword an inch from Itachi's neck. Whether or not Itachi wished for his protection, he'd get it.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Sasuke yelled, his eyes conveying his unreasonable state. His rage was near madness.

"Stopping you from achieving your dream." Nin hissed so that only the younger Uchiha could hear him, pushing at Sasuke's sword still pressing against the kunai's edge before adding in a louder voice, "Following orders. Kakashi sensei doesn't want you to engage Uchiha Itachi."

"Uzumaki Naruto?" Itachi's tone was as cool and calm as ever, apart from the slight hint of confusion. Did those eyes see the truth? Did they see who he really was? Not even the Byakugan and the ordinary Sharingan could see through this henge, but what about the Mangekyo Sharingan? Probably saw through the Naruto henge and saw the Kage.

"What are you doing here? Leader believes you to be dead." Itachi hissed at him with narrowed eyes.

"Your Leader is stupidly desperate if he truly fell for that." Nin replied with a grunt as Sasuke added more force.

Nin kicked out and in Sasuke's enraged state he didn't see it. The kick was powerful enough to send the younger Uchiha flying across the clearing. "Get a hold of yourself Sasuke. You're losing it."

Mentally he was laughing at the Uchiha, enjoying the confusion that flickered across his face as he got to his feet once again.

"Uzumaki Naruto. I have standing orders to capture you upon sight. Either you come willingly or I will take you by force." Itachi said calmly, having not moved at all, even though there was a fight taking place right in front of him. "However, that would happen if you were truly Uzumaki." Itachi added in a very quiet pitch that was probably an attempt to hide the statement from Zetsu. Itachi always had been rather odd.

"Sasuke! Stop now!" Kakashi yelled just as Sasuke was about to charge in again.

Nin was utterly fascinated with how Sasuke stopped immediately, every muscle in his body taunt and quivering with anticipation.

Kakashi and Cat dropped down next to Sasuke, Kakashi dropping a hand on his shoulder as though to restrain him a little more than with just words. Itachi smirked at the sight. "Like a good little lamb. You'll never catch up to me like that foolish little brother. You almost had me too but see _Naruto_ here owes me a favour, don't you _Naruto_? Makes it rather hard for him to just let you kill me."

Was Itachi going to allow him to protect him? Perhaps for now. When Nin had first bought up the issue with him he'd told Nin to get lost and leave him alone. Nin hadn't said anything about his reasons for it. He'd just told the Uchiha that he was now going to make sure he didn't die, simple as that.

Itachi had asked if that meant even protecting him from his vengeful younger brother, it had been the only thing that he'd cared about and not the reason for the declaration and Nin had said yes. Then Itachi had said get lost and mind your own business, like he was mad about it or something. That was the day that Nin had figured out that Uchiha Itachi was not the enemy that he wanted everyone to believe him to be because he _wanted_ his little brother to kill him. True enemies, true heartless monsters wouldn't have even left Sasuke alive to attempt to kill them. No matter what his reasons for killing the clan were, Nin knew that it wasn't because he'd wanted to. That much he was certain of.

"Yet, he's working for the Leaf. Makes it rather hard for him to help me out, like he's supposed to." Itachi continued, his tone not changing at all. How did he do that? "So what are you going to do _Naruto_?"

Nin looked to Sasuke and Kakashi. Sasuke was silently telling him that if he did anything then he was dead. Kakashi was watching with an expression as blank as Itachi's. Nin smiled at Sasuke, a smile that reminded the Uchiha of a shark rather than a gesture of good faith.

Nin raised his hands before creating a shadow clone. He almost laughed when the three Konoha Shinobi readied their weapons as though expecting him to attack.

Itachi pulled out a kunai himself and his gaze left Sasuke to stare coldly at Nin. "Interfere again, Kage, and I will kill you." He whispered very quietly before the clone grabbed him and disappeared with the Flying thunder God technique, not that anyone saw as much. They could only guess.

"Well, Itachi, you'll have to find a way to kill me first." Nin muttered to himself, his eyes not leaving the Konoha Shinobi.

Sasuke snapped, disobeying Kakashi's orders and throwing the kunai at him. Nin ducked out of the way, thoroughly enjoying the pure seething rage that he'd elicited within the younger Uchiha.

"What the hell are you doing! I can't believe you did that! How can you help Itachi to get away RIGHT WHEN I HAD HIM! I was going to kill him and you took that away from me! What the FUCK is wrong with you." Sasuke raged as he tried again and again to hit Nin who dodged the anger driven attacks easily enough.

"Like he said, I owe him one." Nin replied with some difficulty as he dodged more attacks.

"I don't care! We are your comrades. We should've come first!" Sasuke screamed.

"Oh, that's rich. Wise words from the number one candidate for the position of the Sixth Hokage. Too bad your actions aren't as wise." Nin taunted, sensing Cat and Kakashi making a move.

A tiny part of Nin, the part that was Menma was wailing out in pain and confusion, trying to be heard as his emotions conflicted with his actions. Menma was forgetting their reasons for being here. He was falling from the path they'd set out on. Best not to let Menma take over again.

Still the momentary twinge of pain in his chest, caused by his inner conflict was enough for Cat to bind him up with enough wood to build a village. As the Kage he'd easily be able to get out of this but as Naruto, he was stuck. Which path did he choose?

The decision was taken out of his hands as Sasuke leapt forwards and was finally able to land a blow to his head that made his head spin and his eyes glaze over. Man that guy packed a punch when he was angry. Still, this wasn't enough. He had to return to the Leaf. Sasuke wouldn't go after Itachi if Nin left. He'd still go after Naruto. His obsession with the blond was greater than his obsession with his older brother. This had just been an opportunity for him.

Nin would have to change Sasuke's priorities and in order to do that, he'd have to return to the Leaf, even as a prisoner. Nin watched passively as Kakashi made the final blow. He didn't even make a move to defend himself or even to escape even though he could've as Kakashi slammed the handle of the kunai against the back of his head.

* * *

**Present day Konoha. **

Kakashi walked into the room that held Nin, the seal rolled up and in his hands. This was the key to getting his answers but first he'd have to draw Menma out. The only problem was, he wasn't entirely sure how to do that. If push came to shove though, he'd make do with whomever he had.

Sasuke walked in next to him, hand at the ready on the handle of his sword. Ever since the mission to Suna the Uchiha had been in a foul mood. Nin's actions had hurt him deeply yet the boy would never admit to that. He had admitted to Kakashi in a moment of rare quietness on top of the Hokage's tower that he couldn't remember Nin at all. He'd admitted it after he'd told Kakashi what Menma had said, that he was stopping Sasuke from achieving his dreams. Sasuke couldn't remember when he'd purposefully destroyed another Leaf Shinobi's dream and wondered if he'd truly thought that lowly of Nin. Was that why no one knew who he was? Was it because he was so ordinary and unimportant in the eyes of the Leaf that no one could even remember him?

Kakashi had replied that everyone in the Leaf was viewed as important, worthy of protection. Someone would remember who he was and then they could start to fix the problem, make things right.

"So I'm assuming it's still the Kage in charge." Kakashi began lightly.

"You assume correct Hatake. However you've interrupted me. Nowhere important though. Just the amount of time you've spent torturing me. So how long have I been in here anyway?"

"About a week." Kakashi replied.

"And what is it that you were questioning me on, other than my identity?"

Sasuke scowled at the Shinobi. His casual attitude was starting to piss the Uchiha off. Kakashi better hurry this up.

"Yes, who you are? What you want with the Leaf? What you know about the Akatsuki. What you've done with Uchiha Itachi." Kakashi recited from memory.

"AND WHAT THE HELL YOU KNOW ABOUT NARUTO!" Sasuke exploded impatiently.

Simple questions for the Kage. He grinned at the opportunity it presented. After remembering as far as he did, he knew all that he needed to. After they'd knocked him out his mind must have gone into the automatic defence he'd set up in case he was ever captured and blanked out, leaving no personality in charge. That would have appeared to the Leaf as though he had the most iron clad self-control any Shinobi could ever wish for. In truth, they had been working with an empty shell. The defence must have shattered with the use of Sasuke's genjutsu, only for the genjutsu to shatter due to Menma's stupidity once again enraging the other personalities. How could the idiot have been so sentimental?

Nonetheless, this was just too good to pass up. This was a way for him to get Sasuke's mind focused on his brother once again.

"Who I am? Nobody. Just a street rat. What I want with the Leaf? Nothing. I've no business with the Leaf. The Akatsuki? Eh, we can get to that later. What I've done with Uchiha Itachi? Easy enough. I moved him to a safe house and have him locked up in there. He's not getting out just as no one is getting in. I think the vacation will be good for him. He'd got enough supplies to survive quite comfortably for a while." The Kage chattered away, his eyes looking off into the distance as he kept his tone nonchalant. "And as for Uzumaki, I assume Konohamaru told you that I knew something about him. Man that kid is far too loyal to this hell hole. All he ever spoke about. Anyways, you're wasting your time looking for the Uzumaki idiot. The dead last was a pathetic mess when I found him. So I did him a favour . . . I killed him."

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**Reviews**

**Guest and Darklife21:** Tsunade is angry because they went behind her back and did it rather than tell her and work with Konoha to get the information they wanted. Also, they were using methods of extreme torture, methods that Tsunade would hesitate to use. She's mostly angry because they didn't tell her and it made her feel like a fool for not having noticed it sooner.

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**SuperVegitoFAN:** Yes answers will be coming soon. This fic isn't going to be a super long one. At least not the way I see it now. Yes the nose bleed was a mental overload. No, Menma, the one with amnesia never did reveal his true name before he blew himself up. And he only had memory loss till the hospital fire. After the fire he remembered everything but he just didn't say anything.

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**Alright I think I got them all. I think I PM most of the reviewers. So if I missed you let me know. And my apologies if I did. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry about the wait but school is school. Oh and I'll be starting exams soon so the next one will probably be a while too. Sorry in advance.**

**Thanks for all the reviews! XD**

**Thank you to my amazing betas. : ) **

**As for the reviews I think I got all of them via PM. There were a few guest reviews but I don't think any of them were actual questions. As always if you have any questions feel free to ask. **

* * *

**Chapter 11**

"You killed him?" Kakashi, it seemed, was the only one capable of responding to the Kage's last rather bold statement. Sasuke seemed to be frozen in a state of disbelief.

"Sure. He was in the forest all miserable and pathetic, really pathetic. We spoke for a bit, turned out we had the same sort of idea, you know, leaving Konoha and all. 'Cept he couldn't quite bring himself to cross the border. He didn't know where to go from there or what to do. He'd loved his village with every fibre of his being but apparently his village didn't return the feeling. It made him really conflicted. So, I said I'd help him out, one rogue ninja to another. He got all happy and everything. Eyes lit up like a detonating exploding tag." The Kage explained, his tone airy and light as he relayed the details of what was supposedly Uzumaki Naruto's last moments in this world. "While he wasn't looking, I snuck up behind him and pulled a kunai against his throat. Wasn't too gifted was he? He twitched some, as his blood drained from his throat but he died pretty quickly. At the time all I could think about was there sure was a lot of blood in one body."

Sasuke acted first. He slammed his fist against the Kage's face before he clutched at the other ninja's throat, cutting off his airway. "I don't believe you." Somehow he'd managed to say that calmly.

"Hit me all you want, Sasuke." The Kage gasped out, blood dripping from the split lip he'd gotten. "It won't change the fact that Uzumaki is dead. He's not coming back."

"I don't believe you!" Sasuke screamed, tightening his grasp so that the Kage couldn't breathe at all. Kakashi stepped in at that point, prying Sasuke's fingers loose and pulling him off of the other ninja. They still needed information after all.

The Kage coughed and spluttered as he tried to regulate his breathing once again. "What's the matter Uchiha, can't accept the truth?" he spluttered out, his gaze fixed on the enraged Shinobi. The Kage grinned maliciously. "Why is that? Why can't you accept that Uzumaki is dead?" His eyes reflected an almost unhealthy excitement at what was unfolding before them and Kakashi had to suppress the urge to shudder.

"What is your business with me?" Sasuke demanded instead of answering and the Kage began to laugh.

"It's always about you, isn't it Uchiha? The last prodigy of the great and almighty Sharingan wielders. But of course, little Sasuke will never be as great as Itachi." Kakashi was watching the ninja very closely, so he noticed immediately when the dark eyes that gleamed red began to fill with a madness that wasn't safe by any stretch of the imagination. Was this the true personality of the rogue ninja? Was he slipping?

"What is your business with me?" Sasuke repeated, his teeth clenched together painfully tight as he kept himself in check through sheer force of will.

Kakashi backed up in surprise when the Kage began to laugh; a laugh that was different from before. A soft chuckle at first that quickly grew into a peal of laughter, growing more manic and unrestrained by the second. "Uzumaki was right! You can't even see it. For all your great prowess on the battle field, you can't even see something so simple. It's right there, in front of your nose but you just can't see it. _Why_ can't you see something so juvenile? Well stupidity must be contagious. I bet you got it from Uzumaki. Without him around, someone has to be the dead last."

Another sharp smack interrupted the Kage's raving, his breaths now coming in pained gasps since Sasuke had buried his fist in the other's diagram. Sasuke glared at him with blood red eyes, sneering in anger at the rogue ninja. "You don't get to have a say when it involves Naruto. I don't care what you say about us but when it comes to Naruto, you don't get to say anything."

At first the ninja was silent as he stared at Sasuke with half lidded eyes. He was thoroughly enjoying himself and Kakashi couldn't figure out why. When he spoke again, his voice was barely contained, as though he was trying to hold back the laughter. The Kage leaned in closer to Sasuke, as close as he could while restrained to a torture rack, "It kills you, doesn't it? Not knowing why."

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't stand the fact that he left and you can't find him. It's not about finding him because you miss him, is it? No . . . it's to prove that you're better. After all how can the dead last disappear from the elemental nations without so much as a whisper of where he was going? It's just not possible to slip past the great Uchihas like that, you whose eyes are unparalleled. You want to find him just to prove that you can." The Kage mocked in a low smug tone.

Sasuke pulled back his fist to hit the Shinobi again and probably planning on not stopping but Kakashi caught the blow, squeezing hard enough to make the Uchiha wince and to remind him to keep his head. "Poor little Sasuke. Not good enough to find Uzumaki, not good enough to beat his older brother and avenge his clan. That's why you gave up, wasn't it? Because you'll never be better than Itachi. It's easier to go for the dead last. How disappointing."

"What's with the sudden willingness to be so chatty?" Kakashi asked in a clipped tone, still holding onto Sasuke's fist as the Uchiha was continued trying to take a swing at the ninja in front of them.

"Oh but _sensei_, look at how much fun we're having. This is the best conversation we've had so far." He replied with a half insane grin. "You know, him not seeing it is something I kind of expected but you, Sharingan no Kakashi, I expected you to at least guess something by now . . . but all that genius must be overrated."

Kakashi decided that he liked it better when the ninja didn't talk. He was less frustrating that way.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes when he saw the laughter bubbling beneath the surface once again. Was this the moment they were supposed to be afraid of?

Well he wasn't taking any chances. Unrolling the seal, Kakashi activated it with chakra before slamming it onto the Kage's chest. Menma was preferable but a sane Shinobi was better and this one was quickly losing it.

The Kage's eyes widened as heat began to build where the seal had been placed. What had Kakashi done?

"You can remove the restraints now." Kakashi stated calmly, letting go of Sasuke at the same time since it appeared that the Uchiha was as frozen as the Kage was, for the moment. Keeping the boy in the restraints now would be pointless and wasting the ANBU's energy. They had to be getting tired by now and he'd rather have the backup than continue making them restrain a prisoner when it was no longer necessary.

Two ANBU obeyed and walked closer, quickly dismantling the chakra draining shackles with practised ease. The half-dressed Shinobi dropped to the floor with a pained gasp, his body automatically curling in on itself as his breathing became shallower. Kakashi's eye moved to the burn marring his shoulder and chest, creeping upwards to his face. For some reason it made him wince. He shoved the thoughts aside to focus on his task.

"Don't bother trying to teleport out of here. It won't work, no matter what method you try." Kakashi informed the ninja at his feet.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Kakashi." The Kage gave him a weak grin as he tried to pull himself to his feet, his hands digging into the ground beneath him as he clutched at it.

"Well, unless you know a teleportation technique that every other Shinobi in the elemental nations doesn't, you're not going anywhere." Kakashi replied, crouching down next to the gasping ninja. For a heartbeat of time he feared the Flying Thunder God technique just might be enough but he knew that Konoha would have keyed that jutsu into the prison walls as well. They wouldn't have liked to risk the chance of someone copying the jutsu and then getting away.

"What if–" The Kage began, one eye squeezed shut as sweat beaded on his forehead, the other squinting at Kakashi. He cut off with a pained whimper, his efforts at getting to his feet all in vain as his body shuddered and he crashed back to the ground with an agonizing thump.

"It's amazing isn't it, how much one can learn just by watching. If you hadn't felt the need to show off so much, I wouldn't have even known to do this." Kakashi commented, his visible eye completely void of emotion as he watched the Shinobi in front of him begin to tremble, just like he had the first time.

"What did you do to him?" Sasuke asked, his voice just as empty as Kakashi's visible features.

"I removed the seal he places on his ability to sense emotions." Kakashi replied.

"You're a fool, Hatake. You're seal lacks specification." The Kage gasped out, turning so that he could stare at Kakashi. On his face was nothing but pure torture and really who could blame him. He was in a room with an angry Uchiha and Hatake, with fed up ANBU maintaining a taxing seal, in the heart of the ANBU T&I headquarters.

It was a wonder he was still conscious.

"You removed ALL my seals. Even my chakra suppressants."

Kakashi had the sudden foreboding that he'd just done something very, very wrong. The Kage shouldn't be grinning like that and most Shinobi didn't place chakra suppressants on themselves unless they had a very good reason to. What was he hiding? Something told Kakashi that he didn't want to find out.

"The seal is designed so that if I remove it, then it will no longer have any effect. Your seals will continue to work without interruption." Kakashi continued speaking as though he didn't think anything was wrong but it was getting harder to ignore the feeling that he had to get out of there. "I will remove it, after you tell us what we want to know."

"I've already answered your questions." The statement was strained and at a higher pitch indicating a rise in his pain. The seal was also designed to work slowly, lessening the effectiveness of the Kage's own seal bit by bit, increasing the amount of emotions that filtered through little by little until he no longer had anything shielding him from their pain.

The Kage grimaced as someone's emotions in the room caused him a rather nasty jab of pain. What more did they want from him? Well other than a straight answer. Perhaps they wanted to know about the Akatsuki. That would make more sense than simply his identity.

"Who are you?"

"The Kage. I have no identity further than that. I am the Enforcer." He spat out venomously. If they were going to run around in circles he had no use for being here any longer. This body was now contaminated, defective. He could no longer use it.

"Who is the original personality?"

Ah, so now they were getting smart with how they worded their questions. The Kage grit his teeth as he glanced at Sasuke, the Uchiha's eyes boring into him just as the Shinobi's emotions lashed at him, cutting far more deeply than anyone else within range of his sensors other than Hatake. If he was going to answer these questions, he needed a clear mind to do so. Raising a heavily shaking hand, he did his best to form the ram seal and to focus what little chakra he had available to him at the current moment. It wasn't easy but he managed to direct some of the chakra to the seal, slowing its effects and stopping some of them entirely . . . but only for the moment and very, very weakly.

"Now that's an interesting question, isn't it? The question now becomes, which one really is in charge? I'm not really sure I know the answer to that." He had meant for his tone to be thoughtful yet mocking but all that came out was biting gasps. The original personality was so weak right now that he was almost non-existent. He no longer cared, the real Naruto that was. When he was gone, then any one of the other personalities could take over.

Technically.

Kakashi watched him silently for a moment, all the while the pain in his mind growing, making it harder to think straight. The Kage forced himself to feed more chakra into the seal, knowing that it wasn't smart but it was all he could do for now.

Kakashi bent down once again, his hand reaching out . . . hesitating . . . before grasping his throat much the same way that Sasuke had and lifting him from the floor. With that contact, the Kage's concentration slipped and a raw torrent of emotion flooded his senses.

Kakashi's pain, his emotions! They were far too much. How did he handle them? This was nothing compared to Iruka. Not even in the same league. No. He couldn't handle this. No more. It had to stop. This amount of suffering just wasn't possible, not for one person alone.

The Kage's eyes were beginning to roll up into the back of his head. Already the blood was dripping from his nose. Even his lungs had ceased to continue their swallow breaths.

"What do you know about Uzumaki Naruto? Tell me and I'll let go."

"Gone." Was all the Kage managed to wheeze out. "Gone."

Kakashi dropped the Shinobi who tried to scramble away from the potent ninja. This was too much and it was still building. Only problem now was the fact that his ability to sense negative emotions had been amplified tenfold by the fact that the Kyuubi's chakra was no longer restrained. He could feel the seal keeping it at bay weakening and with it the malevolent chakra of the fox growing all the more frenzied. He tried to focus his chakra once more, numbing the seal as best he could given the circumstances.

If it got out, no one in this room would survive. That was a certainty.

Would he be able to restrain it? . . . Did he _want_ to restrain it?

The Kage managed to make it to the relative centre of the room where all the emotions in the room were at an equal distance aside from Sasuke's and Kakashi's. He glared at Kakashi, trying to force his thoughts into order. He had a purpose here and he would see it through!

"I will answer all your questions, all of them without leaving out any detail, if you can answer my question."

"What's the question?" Kakashi asked, confident that he could answer it.

The Kage grinned, but it was a pained expression. "What is the one thing the Leaf have yet to realise? You only get one try and you only get a minute to think it through. It should be that obvious."

Kakashi blinked at the panting mess of a ninja. They were missing something? He turned to Sasuke who was already deep in thought, mind racing through the current situation of the Leaf just as fast as Kakashi's was.

What were they missing?

* * *

**Konoha Academy**

Iruka had his head on his arms as he stared at the grains in the wood. He wasn't particularly interested in a pattern he'd memorised years ago, but rather in what his thoughts were centred on. That Menma Shinobi had been in and out of his thoughts since the day they'd first met. It had grown worse after the crash course in henges that Menma had given to the pre-genin. Iruka felt like there was something he was missing.

Only, try as he might, he couldn't put his finger on it.

He knew it had something to do with the way the kid looked. He was sure that he'd have remembered such an oddly dressed Shinobi. He wasn't odd in the sense that he wore anything outrageous. No . . . it was more like the total ordinariness that caught Iruka's attention. All Shinobi that age tried to distinguish themselves with some mark, some unique clothing item or other, yet all this kid had was his mask and that wasn't even original. Kakashi wasn't the only ninja to wear a mask like that but he was the only one to wear it all the time, like Menma did. Still it wasn't anything spectacular. Kakashi himself was the famous part, not the mask . . . . . but on second thought Kakashi made that part about himself famous as well, just because he _did_ wear it all the time.

Hell, if anything the kid looked like Hatake Kakashi, only with black hair and wider, chestnut coloured eyes. Some had even started a betting pool that the kid was Kakashi's bastard son out to get him for not sticking around with his mother.

Wait a minute. Those eyes . . .

Looking at just those eyes, it was like looking in a mirror.

No. It couldn't be. He must have lost it for sure this time if this was what his mind came up with.

Yet Iruka couldn't stop himself from pulling out a blank piece of paper and beginning to draw from memory the face that belonged to Team 7's newest member.

When he was finished his hands were shaking.

How hadn't he seen it before? It was so obvious. Now he knew what had been bugging him the whole time.

Jumping to his feet, Iruka dashed to the door of his classroom and headed over to the mission room where all the Shinobi records were kept. Not the really important ones, just the registration ones. There were a few files he was going to need. He had to be certain about this if he was going to present his theory to the Hokage.

* * *

**T&I headquarters, some deep dark room that no sane person ever wants to visit. **

"Time's running out Kakashi. If I have to tell you the answer, I won't tell you a thing, no matter what you do to me. Hell if you have to, talk it out with the Uchiha."

Kakashi scowled at the ninja who was taking far too much amusement from this situation.

"Do you have anything Sasuke?" Kakashi asked the brooding Uchiha.

"No. I keep coming up blank. What about you?" Sasuke replied.

"Same. It's like I can't see it but I know it's there. He wouldn't have brought it up otherwise. Do you think he'll let us consult with Shikamaru on this?" Kakashi replied, his frustration beginning to show in his tone.

"No. We'd have to fill him in on everything thus far and we might just miss something, overlooking it because we see it as so background that it's not even worth mentioning. _He_ believes it's something obvious so it _should_ be simple." Sasuke was shaking his head slowly as he thought it through.

"Times up." The Kage all but sang. "Do you give up? Shall I tell you the answer?"

"You're going to do it anyway, aren't you?" Kakashi deadpanned. He didn't like this feeling of helplessness. It wasn't supposed to be like this. They were supposed to come in here, put the seal on the ninja and get their answers. Instead he felt like he was walking into a trap, like a lab rat in a maze, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"The Akatsuki wanted to attack the Leaf because they believed that Uzumaki was hiding within it while the Hokage told the other hidden villages that he'd run away. They believed it was all a ruse so that their Jinchuriki would be safe because he disappeared right after Itachi and Kisame's first attempt to capture him." The Kage began, still speaking with difficulty making it harder to understand him.

"Yes but that was what you were on Team 7 for, to pretend to be Uzumaki." Sasuke snapped impatiently.

The Kage's mouth twitched before he began to laugh. "You still don't see it. Some genius you are."

The door burst open and Jiraiya charged in, his face filled with panic. "Kakashi. We need to talk. NOW!"

"Ding! Ding! Ding! Someone's awake. And the grand prize goes to the Super pervert of the Sannin. Congratulations Pervy Sage, you have won yourself a stress filled week of preparations. Have fun with that and let me know how it goes, ohkay?"

"What the hell is going on?" Tsunade barked, walking into the room as well.

"No matter how you look at it, no matter what we did or didn't do or who we put on Team 7 and no matter whom we made them pretend to be, it all leads to the same conclusion. The Akatsuki believe that Uzumaki Naruto is in the Leaf and by allowing that ninja to impersonate him during the mission to rescue Gaara, we basically confirmed to the Akatsuki that we have a ninja that we really don't. Even if we hadn't done that, they would have still attacked, believing us to have been lying about his disappearance." Jiraiya explained. "We advertised to the most dangerous organisation out there a blatant challenge to come and attack us and we've been wasting a week trying to get answers out of him instead of preparing for a most probable attack."

"Oh and that's not all your problems. By now the other nations have figured out that Team 7's new member is far too suspicious and too conveniently found. After all it was just after the Kage blew himself up. They're not stupid. They're about to figure out that the Leaf is working with the most wanted ninja in the elemental nations. You sure are in for a ride. And without your Jinchuriki as well. Hell, I didn't even have to do anything other than be here." The Kage was grinning at them like he'd just been told the best news of his life. "That's not even the best part. You've forgotten the most important rule about the Kage." He was rocking now, back and forth like a small child, hugging his knees and looking nothing like the feared Shinobi that terrorised the elemental nations with the mere mention of his name.

"Oh and what would that be?" Jiraiya asked, his eyes flashing in anger.

"It's so sad really. I know how to help you guys out but I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you a thing. I would've, had Sasuke and Kakashi found the right answer in time but they didn't . . . I suppose I can give you one last try." The Kage replied, ignoring the question.

"Let me guess, what's the rule we've forgotten?" Kakashi very nearly growled.

"Don't be so hasty Hatake because no, that's not it. My question to you, and you better answer it correctly. In fact, only two people in this room are allowed to answer it. Whoever answers it first is the answer I go on so think of it like a game show. The two contestants are Uchiha Sasuke, no other introduction needed and the Lady Hokage, Princess Tsunade of the Sannin. Let's give them a round of applause ladies and gentlemen." The Kage was clapping enthusiastically like a small child a wide grin on his face. "Now think carefully before you answer. Are you ready for it? You only have a minute and one try to get it right."

"Just spit it out already!" Tsunade snapped.

"If you insist." The grin he gave the Hokage was purely wolfish, like he felt like he'd already won. "During the Chunin exams in which Sandaime Hokage tragically lost his life in a last yet epic battle against his wayward student Orochimaru of the Sannin, a certain Suna Jinchuriki went on a little rampage and a certain genin team was sent after him to subdue and capture him. While they did not capture him, they did subdue him. Which of the three heroic and courageous genin was the one that saved the day, since the fourth stayed behind as a decoy so that his teammates may succeed? Was it A: Sakura, B: Naruto or C: Sasuke?"

The room was as silent as a crypt when the Kage finished his little speech. Sasuke's face paled slightly but he didn't utter a word. Kakashi gave him an odd look before glancing to Jiraiya who was thoughtful but not in the good way. Tsunade however waved a hand impatiently as she glared at the gleefully grinning Kage "That's easy. I hope you're ready to sing like a bird. The answer is Sasuke."

"My, my. Doesn't even think it through she's so certain of her answer. Too bad. Any true Shinobi would have seen it as the trap it was. Your answer, I'm not afraid to say is incorrect. Ask Sasuke why the Leaf once again lost its chance for some much needed help. If only he'd answered instead of you, Lady Hokage."

"I don't understand. The answer is Sasuke." Tsunade growled, her anger beginning to take over.

"That rule you forgot, is that the Kage never does anything in person. You said I couldn't teleport out of here Kakashi, well my question to you and this one doesn't need an answer, is what if I was never in the room to begin with? You've been playing with shadow clones this whole time. Oh well, it's been fun. If you want to find me Sasuke, I'm with Itachi. Find him and you'll find me. Good luck with that impending invasion. Ya'll have fun now." A puff of smoke later and he was gone, as well as all the items that he'd had with him. The only thing that proved he'd even been there at all was the Konoha headband Tsunade had given him when he'd arrived.

Sasuke's angrily snarled declaration was the only sound in the suddenly too silent room.

"I'm going to kill him."

* * *

**Iruka's POV**

"Please. It's urgent. I really need to see the Hokage."

"Sorry Umino. Orders are orders." The ANBU at the door replied. He couldn't very well tell the chunin that the Hokage wasn't in there because she was down at T&I with Team 7's new member, Menma, who'd turned out to be a traitor. That part was still kept under wraps for the most part.

"You don't understand. I really need to see her." Iruka pleaded. He'd rushed over here as soon as he'd convinced himself that he was a hundred percent certain. He still thought it was crazy but it was the kind of crazy that just might work.

"Iruka?"

The frantic chunin turned to see Sarutobi Asuma watching him with concern.

"Oh, Asuma, I don't suppose you could get in to see the Hokage could you. I really need to tell her something." Iruka hurried over to the larger Jonin, his expression as desperate as it got.

Asuma sighed, rubbing at his beard as he considered his next move. Unlike the ANBU stationed at the door for show at the moment, Asuma actually took the time to really look at the chunin and noted that to Iruka, he truly and honestly felt that he had to see the Hokage right this minute.

Asuma grabbed Iruka's arm before teleporting them to the roof of the Hokage Tower. "She's not in her office at the moment." Asuma stated, before Iruka could protest the action.

"Oh, do you know when she'll be back?" Iruka visibly deflated, his actions fidgety and impatient.

"She's currently at T&I. Turns out Team 7's new member is a traitor. He helped Uchiha Itachi escape during our last mission together, he appears to have intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the Akatsuki and according to Konohamaru he knows something about Uzumaki." Asuma clenched his jaw at the thought, still angry at the events of that mission. Kisame had darn near killed them all. Where had he gotten all that chakra from? It was one vicious attack after another, not to mention that giant pain in the ass sword of his.

"Please tell me they aren't torturing Menma?" Iruka asked in a weak breathless tone, his face going so pale Asuma thought he was going to pass out.

"Unfortunately, yes. They've been at it for a week. The kid isn't budging. Kakashi and Jiraiya are working on something at the moment . . . Iruka, you realise that what I'm telling you, you can't tell anyone else." Asuma glanced at the chunin, not liking the green shade he was turning. What the heck? He'd known Iruka was sensitive but this was just crazy.

"Oh God." Iruka whispered hoarsely before he promptly did pass out.

* * *

**Naruto's rather confused mind**

"Line up!"

The three other people in front of the boy who'd yelled scowled at him in annoyance but did as they were told and stood in a straight line. They were each glaring at the other, trying to pinpoint the weakest one to lay the blame on. Blame was a funny thing. It meant weakness and none of them liked the idea of being seen as weak. It was the very opposite of everything they had been trying to achieve.

"Alright, which one of you morons would like to explain to me what the hell happened. I want to know why the hell we were in T&I, under an Uchiha genjutsu which we were_ very_ lucky to break out of, with our memories out of place and why it took three of you to handle one simple little mission."

"Don't look at all of us. Menma started it!" Nin snapped, glancing away and crossing his arms.

"Oh yeah, and who was the one that screwed up the mission to rescue the Kazekage?" Menma snapped back with a childish pout, yet not denying his faults.

"Oh, last I checked I did rescue the Kazekage." Nin growled.

"Last I checked you used the flying thunder god technique to do it." The Kage purred, loving the tension between the two, antagonising them into more aggression. "I thought we were supposed to be acting like Naruto."

"Don't even get me started on your screw ups." Nin glared coldly at the other persona, not liking him at all and not taking his bait.

"My screw ups? What the hell was I supposed to screw up when I was in the T&I department of ANBU, thanks to you two, and stuck with sorting through Uchiha's mess. Sasuke's desperation shows in his methods. Placing me under that genjutsu while in that week of torture must have been something of a last ditch effort." The Kage commented with a snicker. "I worked with what I had. Which, once again, thanks to you two, wasn't all that much. I had to fix your mess AND complete the mission. I can't even be sure that I did since I had to dispel."

"You know what Menma, you're an ass. Is it your whole purpose in life to make us screw up?" Nin turned his attention to the other persona, seeing him as weaker than the Kage who in Nin's opinion was just plain old batshit crazy. One would have to be to do some of the things he did.

"You can't deny the Leaf regrets what happened!" Menma yelled back.

"They don't understand _WHY_! They just know that Naruto left, yet the Kage's question proves that they still don't understand." Nin argued back, keeping his tone at a reasonable volume.

"They miss him! Sasuke _wants_ to find him. The lengths they're willing to go show that they do care." Menma continued to argue, adamant in his point of view. He was one against three. Not a good place to be.

"That was not the point! We don't know what their true intentions are when it comes to Naruto. They treated him like a pariah when they had him. What's the difference now? Like Kage said, they just want to find him because they feel the need to prove that they're better. They also need their Jinchuriki. They'll start to suffer without the balancing power of the Nine-tails." Nin grumbled back, his tone more fed up with Menma than actually focused on the argument.

The problem was, both had a point. Yet, Nin's was stronger.

"You're forgetting why we started this Menma." The Kage said very quietly.

"No, I'm not. I'm just saying that maybe we were wrong. Maybe it didn't happen that way." Menma snapped with an angry glare. "We were pretty naïve back then."

"Naïve or not, it happened! Never forget that." Nin snapped back.

"Enough! I think it's safe to say that everyone here is at fault but do we all agree that our main objectives are at least achieved?"

There was a momentary and blissful silence as each persona thought about the actions that had taken place while in the Leaf. Gaara was safe and still alive. Sasuke was enraged enough to go after his brother, hopefully. The Leaf had dug their own grave, while not a priority for them and not really something they had actively planned, it was still a sweet bonus. Two of the Akatsuki members were dead and they had Uchiha Itachi where they could talk to him without being interrupted by that annoying Pein and with no Kisame to spy either AND Pein believed Itachi had been taken by force protecting his reputation. While Itachi hadn't been a part of the plan, they had improvised and added the older Uchiha in. They really hadn't expected him to show up like that but then again, they should've.

"Agreed." They all said in unison, even if they had gone about it in a roundabout way.

"I have a question." Menma said quickly and with a small frown.  
"What?" was the sighed reply.

"When they were torturing us, not that we remember it thanks to that genjutsu, are we going to get revenge for that or do we brush it aside?" Menma asked, his voice uncertain as he tried to put his question into words.

"No, we won't. It was a necessary means to achieve our goal. Besides they weren't torturing us, but rather a clone. Makes it seem irrational to seek vengeance for such a thing when all they were doing was what any hidden village would've. In fact their methods are far more humane than most." This time it was surprisingly the Kage that answered.

"Besides, I chose to be taken, knowing where it would lead." Nin shrugged.

"Now, speaking of, that genjutsu of Sasuke's really did mess with a few things in here and some things are still out of place. Kage, it's your job to stay here for the time being and sort it all out. Get it done and get it done quickly. Menma, you're on probation. Another stunt like that and you'll be terminated. Nin, you did well on the clean-up, except for the part where Itachi was involved."

"Now really, what was I supposed to do with that? I wasn't expecting the Uchiha to show up." Nin replied, staring down at the darkness that surrounded them.

"Next time, call me."

"Understood." Nin replied.

"Menma, you're not to go to the Leaf again, at all."

"What?! Why?" Menma whined.

"Because you're too attached. You sympathise with the enemy and we just can't afford to mess up now."

"Hehe, told you so." The Kage mocked gleefully.

"Don't get so cheerful. You almost gave in to _it_. See to it that you don't get that close again." That order was delivered in a tone colder than any of the others had been causing the Kage to flinch.

"I didn't think that the Leaf would have been dumb enough to do what they had." The Kage replied, not really in defence, more of a statement of confusion. "Kakashi didn't fully understand the situation before he acted. Something that isn't like him. Once again, desperation. We'll have to make sure to not get hit by that seal again."

"Yes, it appears the Leaf are more resourceful than what we gave them credit for. Still, be sure to never get that close again, Kage."

That close to losing it. That close to giving in to that _other_ persona. The one that laughed when it really wasn't funny.

* * *

**Team 7: Konoha**

Sakura was leaning against the railing of the bridge that Team 7 used to meet on back _before_ . . . before everything went so wrong. Sasuke was somewhere behind her, and Kakashi sensei was hiding in a tree somewhere, probably with an Icha Icha stuck in front of his nose, like he used to do, only they'd never noticed him thinking he was late all the time instead.

They all naturally gravitated here when there was nowhere else to go. Or rather nowhere else they found they wanted to be.

"Things are going to get really bad aren't they?" Sakura asked hoarsely, fearfully. Her green eyes were watching the water below the bridge, but they weren't really seeing the flowing water as it passed. She had been the first to speak in about ten minutes, the first to say what they were all really thinking about.

"I can't believe I didn't see it." Sasuke tone was just a little shell shocked. "The Akatsuki . . . Can we handle them? Nin, Menma whoever he is, he didn't seem to find them much of a threat."

"That's because he was smarter than what we gave him credit for. He gave the term 'divide and conquer' new meaning. He also had some experience in their fighting styles. He _knew_ them." Kakashi murmured from his hidden position. "So, I don't know Sasuke. I really don't know. If only we had gotten some information from him, even if it was just on the Akatsuki alone."

There was silence again. Ever since Naruto had disappeared, since they refused to think of it as Naruto truly leaving of his own free will, they knew that there would be a day where they'd have to defend their village. Hence the upped training. They were powerful, but where they enough?

Sakura's silence was a despondent sort of contemplativeness. She was thinking about all the people that were going to be affected by the coming events, all the Shinobi who would not be strong enough to survive. Konohamaru and his team, they'd only just made it to chunin. They no longer had the semi-protected status of genin. She could only hope that she has enough to save those that needed it.

Kakashi's was similar but more morose, as he knew the horrors of battle far more intimately than his students and his heart silently wept in despair for their future, silently apologising that he could not provide a longer lasting peace for them. Peace, he knew all too well, came at a high price.

Sasuke's was guilty. He knew that he could've gotten that information from Nin, yet he'd said nothing. He hadn't said anything for just over four and a half years now. And only now was he regretting it. Only now was it becoming a problem . . . . . but why had Nin asked _that_ question? Why would he care? Or had it simply been an opportunity that he knew would allow him to get away without giving up the offered information?

"Sensei, this is going to interrupt our efforts to find Naruto isn't it?" Sakura asked very quietly, still none of them looking at the other.

A small breeze filtered through the area, bringing with it a few leaves, leaves that were ignored.

"Do you believe him?" Sasuke asked instead since Kakashi didn't appear to be answering a question that already had an answer. Yes, it would. Konoha, no matter how much they wanted to find Naruto, still came first.

"I don't know. He . . . he could be right. I mean we haven't found anything on Naruto for years now. Nothing. Not even a half-plausible lead to go on." Kakashi sighed, deciding that it was best to be frank. "Not even the best can disappear like that. Or so I've heard." He had to add that last part, that little piece of hope.

"What about that sighting in Suna?" Sakura asked, her voice desperately hopeful.

"I want to believe it Sakura, I really do but it doesn't tell as anything that we can use. There's no indication of where he's going or where he's been. Not from just a sighting. Besides, we're not even sure if it's real." Kakashi had to force himself to say those words. He was a Shinobi and he was a cursedly logical one. He had to be.

"It would disprove Nin's story." Sasuke added softly. "If it were true."

"It would, wouldn't it."

"If Nin's right, if he did kill Naruto, I'll make sure he never sees the shadow of another night again." Sasuke vowed darkly. He'd _almost_ go so far as to say Nin would take preference over Itachi.

"Either way, we'll know soon enough. Naruto was a Jinchuriki and killing one doesn't come without consequences." Kakashi replied thoughtfully. There were many holes in Nin's story but the problem was, it wasn't unrealistic. He _could have_ killed Naruto and they had no way of proving that he didn't. Not a way that was immediately available to them anyway.

"I say he's bluffing." Sakura interrupted. "I don't doubt that he knows something about Naruto but I don't think he killed him. I don't know. There's just something about him that makes it hard for me to believe that. Maybe it's the fact that he's so close to Gaara. The Kazekage would never be ohkay with that."

"Gaara doesn't have to know about it. Or . . . Nin also owes Gaara something. It's entirely possible that this is their secret." Kakashi mused. Sakura did have a point, but they had to consider all angles.

It was silent once more as the three contemplated the possibilities of things that truly terrified them to think about. What if, all this time that they'd failed to find Naruto was not because he was really good at hiding or because someone was really good at hiding him, but because there was nothing to find anymore?

"Hmmmm, so this is the famous, or infamous Team 7." A new voice, interrupted, a quiet thoughtful tone that set their teeth on edge.

All three turned to look at the new arrival. "Perhaps you'd be interested to know that that Menma Shinobi, whatever his name is, he came here quiet often. Coincidence? Perhaps."

They watched the Konoha Shinobi wearily. He stood at the end of the bridge, his posture relaxed and his expression one of a grin that wasn't quite natural. "I'm Sai by the way. I was one of the Shinobi assigned to watch Menma and report what I saw to the Hokage." He added, his smile widening and losing some of its plausibility as it did so. "As a consequence I was given Team 7's file and I became interested with one specific aspect." Sai continued, walking closer.

Kakashi disappeared from his tree branch and reappeared standing between Sasuke and Sakura. All three were silent as they watched Sai wearily.

"What will you do, if you find Uzumaki, and he _doesn't want_ to come back?" Sai's smile was gone. His face was now curiously blank, his eyes expectant.

Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura stiffened, their faces growing even more expressionless than before. An automatic Shinobi reflex.

Yet, Sai continued. "Assuming he ran away and wasn't captured by the enemy, what would you do if he were to fight against you with every ounce of strength he possessed? Forcing him to return will not make everything go back to the way it was. Nothing will be the way it was. Surely with a team such as yours, with your strategic intellect you must realise this, so why try? Why try for any other reason than to apprehend a missing-nin."

Kakashi placed a hand on both Sasuke and Sakura's shoulders. His visible eye narrowed and he said in a coldly polite tone, "Those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash."

He turned around, taking Sasuke and Sakura with him. Sai waited until they were just within in earshot before replying.

"So I guess that makes Uzumaki worse than trash."

Despite their dislike of the questions, Team 7 couldn't deny that they were very good ones. What _would_ they do should they find Naruto and he didn't want to come back? And that was assuming he was alive at all.

* * *

**Safe house (Planning Naruto personality will be referred to as Nara as per**_** jayley's**_** request)**

Itachi sat on the couch, not moving a muscle as his blood red eyes dared not flicker a nanometre from the Shinobi in front of him.

Said Shinobi didn't even appear to be in the room, mentally at least. Itachi was a patient ninja, but even he had his limits. It had been a week. A week of nothing but waiting and that patience was beginning to wear thin.

So it was with some measured relief, a relief that didn't show on his face, that the ninja finally opened his eyes.

"Back in the present, Nara?" Itachi asked coolly.

"Yes. Kage had to dispel. That lot have created a right royal mess for me to clean up, but I suppose so long as the end result is achieved then what do I really have to complain about." Nara replied blandly, inclining his head slightly.

"Which one screwed up this time?" Itachi asked, not really interested but asking only for the sake of information. He knew he was stuck here until Nara let him out. He didn't know when that was going to be so he'd have to be patient, he'd have to wait. Unless he could figure out how to get out of here on his own.

"All three of them." Nara growled.

"I don't know why you don't just do it yourself." Itachi's tone hadn't changed at all. It was still just as calm and bland as before.

How long had he known Nara? He'd take a guess on about three and a half years. When he'd come to Itachi he'd been a mess, barely able to produce a flame. He'd stated firmly yet angrily that his affinity wasn't for fire and as such he was lucky to produce a flame at all. His affinity was for wind, an affinity so far from fire that it was ludicrous to even attempt fire style jutsus; but he'd been adamant and he'd asked Itachi to be his teacher. Secretly Itachi had been impressed with Nara for several reasons. One, that the boy had found Itachi at all. Two, that he had the nerve to ask Itachi to teach him. And three, he'd refused to let up even though he'd been surrounded by an organisation of dangerous and powerful missing-nin.

At first Itachi had refused but Pein told him to do it as punishment for failing to find Uzumaki. Kisame had been the boy's water style teacher, a style he was far better at performing but not by much.

It had been during that time that Itachi had grown intimate with the workings of Nara's mind and his use of the shadow clones. It was information that he hadn't shared with Pein. Pein had only told him to train the boy, not to acquire information on him. In fact Pein still didn't know that the Kage was really Nara. He just saw Nara as an amusing way to irritate his subordinates by making them train the kid in whatever it was that they were proficient at. Sasori had taught him about poisons but refused to teach him about puppet mastery. Dederia had taught him about explosions and surveillance. Zetsu had taught him about infiltration. Hidan had taught him about luring others into traps without any effort. Kakazu had taught him how to use different elemental attacks to his advantage and in collaboration as well as how to capture missing nin for money. Pein hadn't taught him anything.

Mostly though, the kid had stuck to Itachi.

Still he'd only been with the Akatsuki on and off. Itachi had no idea where he went and what he did when he wasn't with them but every time he came back with another jutsu in his arsenal or another piece of information he hadn't previously known. He seemed intent on learning as much as he could on just about anything. Then there were the things he'd known how to do before coming to the Akatsuki. Itachi didn't know where he'd learnt that either. Such as his shadow clones.

Nara's shadow clones were made differently from other shadow clones. The boy had always been obsessed with the idea of staying hidden and out of sight. He'd been adamant that he could not do so if he did things personally. He despised the idea of being caught, of being found out.

Yet a normal shadow clone could only do so much. He'd asked Itachi one training session, why it was that some jutsus required blood, mostly the sealing ones since he was proficient at the art.

Itachi had replied that that was just the way it was. So Nara had made a shadow clone that was more like a vessel. The problem with these clones was that they were far more useful as corpses than as distractions.

They had no personalities and would not copy Nara's no matter how many times he changed the way they were made while still keeping their basic functions. They were solid, they had blood and could even produce chakra to some extent, they could breathe and blink but they had no purpose, no desire, no will, and without these things they did not move. So Nara had constructed personalities to be 'implanted' into the shadow clones and as a result they could act independently of the creator. If they so desired they could kill him but Nara had a thin control over them, in the sense that he could still dispel them at his choosing. But Itachi thought that should the clones wish it, then they'd find a way around that.

Nara had muttered something once that the personalities had always been there, inside his head. He'd just found a way to shut them up. Inside Nara's mind, the part just before the void, was where they all met and discussed things. Each one was a personality in itself with no emotional ties at all to Nara. They'd kill him if they could, well he supposed the Kage would. Nin was still undecided and Menma was a fool. How he'd come to exist was still a mystery to Itachi.

There were possibly two other personalities within Nara's mind but Itachi hadn't seen them so he couldn't be sure. It was in the way he spoke, some of the things he said that made Itachi sure that the personalities were there.

So, for the ability to have a shadow clone that could perform any jutsu as well as the original could, Nara had to give them independence. Itachi knew all the clones were connected in some way because if one of the 'vessels' got destroyed, the personality would simply move to another one and their memories were constantly updating, constantly giving reports and orders to the others. Nara was the one in charge . . . for now. Itachi knew that it could all change in an instant and often wondered what drove Nara so that he saw it as something that was worth it to him.

That day, near Suna, he'd learned a little more. While he'd seen Nara as nothing more than a student he'd never wanted, he'd never imagined that the boy had ulterior motives. He never would have guessed that Nara wanted to get back at his younger brother. Was that why he'd approached Itachi in the first place? There were plenty other fire users after all. Ones with less risk; ones that weren't inclined to kill him.

"I know you're quite comfortable with the idea of Sasuke killing you, but unfortunately I can't allow that." Nara stated instead of answering his question. It seemed that was another thing Itachi was going to have to figure out on his own. Why didn't Nara do things on his own?

If anything, Nara and his clones reminded Itachi of Pein and his Paths, only with less obedience and with room for error.

"That isn't something you should have any say in." Itachi replied.

"In fact," Nara continued, completely ignoring him. "I'm going to help you out. I'm going to heal you, and your eyes. It's no fun if you die of natural causes."

"It's impossible. I'd have already done it if I could've." Itachi's tone still did not waver an inch in either direction.

"You've just been looking in all the wrong places. And besides, you've been looking for Jinchuriki, not solutions." Nara hopped off the bed he'd been sitting on and stretched out his limbs. "But man, making sure that idiot didn't lose his henge while in interrogation was draining. I feel like I could sleep forever but those three morons will get some smart ass idea and ruin everything. For now I think I'll just stick with healing you." Nara yawned as he spoke, placing a hand in front of his mouth as he did so. "Hatake Kakashi is one unpredictable Shinobi." He added almost as an afterthought. "Caused a fair amount of trouble towards the end there. The Leaf are far more proficient at sealing than what I originally thought."

Itachi watched the other Shinobi wearily. If there was one thing he'd learnt about Nara, it was that _he_ was unpredictable, the dangerous kind. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be healed by Nara or not, but something told him he wasn't getting a choice in this either way. He was desperate to know what was happening outside of this place but until Nara told him anything, he'd never know.

* * *

**Konoha. Iruka's POV.**

Try as he might, the Academy sensei just couldn't get in to see the Hokage. Every time he tried he'd been told that she was too busy to see him. While he had no doubt that whatever it was that she was doing was very important, he just felt that his information was important too yet no one seemed to understand that.

Giving up on the Hokage Iruka went to find the next most useful person to him now, only they all seemed to be really busy too. The entire village was in a state of preparation, only no one knew it. Only Iruka did because he kept trying to talk to anyone that could take his information to the Hokage, which meant someone with a higher rank than what he had.

Yet he couldn't get any of the ones that he'd managed to find to stand still long enough for him to explain. He'd tried Kakashi, Asuma, Anko, Genma . . . hell even Jiraiya but they all brushed him aside with a polite urgency before hurrying off again.

Iruka was only a chunin but that didn't mean he was stupid. Something was happening and it was bound to be something huge. After all, anything that dragged Jiraiya away from his 'research' was something worth paying attention too. Sooner or later the rest of the Shinobi would be informed but for now, everyone that was a jonin and higher was damn near impossible to talk to.

As it had already been three days since his talk with Asuma, three days since he'd last had what had perhaps been his last chance to tell someone about his discovery by passing out upon learning that they were torturing Menma, Iruka felt like he was running out of time.

Soon, if he didn't get someone to listen to him, he was going to have to take drastic measures. As it was, he was staring thoughtfully at the side of the Hokage Tower, wondering if it was worth it to walk up the side and slip in through the window. Looking down at the documents in his hand Iruka nodded to himself before lifting a chakra glowing foot and attaching himself to the side of the building.

He was quiet pleased with himself when he managed to get to the window _and_ to knock on the window. Inside the Hokage's office there appeared to be a meeting taking place. All eyes in the room turned to him and he grinned nervously. The Hokage said something to the group of gathered Shinobi before coming to the window and opening it.

"Umino, I know that the annual Academy budget discussion was supposed to be two days ago but I'm too busy right now. Perhaps in a few days we can discuss it." Lady Tsunade said curtly poking her head out of the window.

"Wait what?" Iruka stuttered in surprise.

"And walking up the side of my tower is really pushing it Umino. I admire the work ethic but this is just taking it too far." She added with a humph before slamming the window shut again with such a force that Iruka lost his hold and nearly fell to the ground. As it was his reflexes allowed him to only just recover from the near meeting with the ground. He couldn't allow himself to lose this opportunity.

He was so close. He couldn't give up now.

With a soft growl of determination, Iruka attempted to knock again. Hey, it had worked the first time around so there was some merit to trying it again.

He flinched however when he saw the Hokage stiffen. Not good. He'd heard that she did that right before she started to throw things.

She turned very slowly and approached the window once more, a smile almost literally plastered onto her features. "What do you want now Umino?"

"It's not about the Academy. I really do have to talk to you. It's about Naruto." Iruka said quickly, afraid that she'd slam something other than a window this time.

"Alright Umino, what is it? This had better be good because if it's not . . ." She really didn't have to finish that sentence. Iruka cringed. When Naruto had first disappeared he'd come to the Hokage at all hours of the night or day to tell her anything and everything he'd deemed important in his addled mind. After a while he'd just be blubbering to the Hokage because every time he had a crisis in his life he'd always gone to the Sandaime and now he didn't know how to do it differently.

She did however step back and allow him into the room. Iruka hopped through the window and paused momentarily when he noticed all the other people in the room. He'd known they were there, he was only just now noticing _who_ they were.

However he pushed it all aside so that he could give his undivided attention to the waiting blond.

Finally he was going to show the Hokage what he'd figured out. He held out the docket he'd complied, offering it to the Hokage who flickered a gaze to it in curiosity.

A flicker of chakra, a swirl of leaves and the sudden rise in tension made the chunin's eyes twitch.

"Pardon my intrusion, Lady Tsunade but I really do need to speak to you."

"Oh no! No you don't. I got here first." Iruka yelled, whirling around and pointing a finger angrily at the new arrival. In his outrage he didn't care to look further than the fact that this person was once again preventing him from talking to the Hokage. He didn't bother to see the black cloak with the red clouds or the long black hair tied back into a pony tail. Iruka Umino really just didn't care that this sudden interruption was named Uchiha Itachi and that he really shouldn't have been there either way.

"Sorry Umino but it's going to have to wait. Cat, please take Umino outside." Lady Tsunade ordered crisply, taking the docket from his hand and placing it on her desk. The only reason that no one had made a move to attack Itachi right now was because he wasn't making a move to attack and right now, they knew that they were about to be invaded by the Akatsuki. If one of its members were here then it was either to give them a message from the leader of the group or it was to give them information about the group. But that didn't mean they weren't all ready to attack at a second's notice.

"But I finally got to talk to you!" Iruka yelled as he once again struggled within the grip of an ANBU, not in the least bit concerned about the Akatsuki member's presence. "It really is important!"

* * *

**Itachi and Nara**

"So, how's your vision?" Nara asked in a cheerful tone that grated on Itachi's eardrums.

"It's one hundred percent." Itachi replied blandly.

"See I told you I could do it."

"You didn't give me a choice. And before you ask, my body feels perfectly healthy as well." Itachi very nearly snapped back, but Uchiha Itachi did not snap.

"Great! But now I really need to get some sleep." Nara yawned as he spoke, further irritating the Uchiha.

"Before you do, could you at least tell me what the situation outside of these rooms are?" Itachi asked instead.

"Well you know how Pein figured Uzumaki was still in the Leaf?" Nara asked.

"Yes. You were impersonating Uzumaki while with the Leaf. I thought that was rather foolish seeing as Pein now thinks that Uzumaki really is in the Leaf, when before he was doing nothing but speculating." Itachi replied.

"Yes, well that was the Leaf's stupidity. At the current moment Pein thinks the Leaf killed two of his members, when they only killed one, took their rings when I was the one that took them, captured you, since what on earth could you be expected to do against so many high ranked Leaf Shinobi as well as your vengeful little brother, and lastly he believes that Uzumaki is in the Leaf. What do you think is happening?" Nara told him.

"He's about to attack isn't he?" Itachi asked, his outward appearance remaining the same.

"Yes. The Leaf don't even have Uzumaki as a bargaining chip. It was not something I planned for but I'm not inclined to interfere with it either. The Leaf will either prevail against Pein or they will perish. This just might be a true test of their strength as a village." Nara replied heading to his bedroom with another yawn.

Itachi didn't stop him again. Nara had given him back his health by using an ancient form of the sealing arts. Something that focused on time if he understood Nara's ramblings correctly. He'd muttered something about returning the body to the state it had been in before it had gotten ill. Translation, to when he'd been perfectly healthy. Itachi didn't really understand it since his vision had been too poor to actually see any of the seals Nara had used but that didn't matter. He was feeling better physically than what he had been in years and as such he could think far more clearly.

Already his mind was coming up with ways in which to leave this place. All he needed was for Nara to go to sleep.

There had to be a weak spot in the defences. There always was. Nara wasn't perfect.

As he waited for Nara to fall into a deeper sleep Itachi activated his Sharingan and used it to stare around at the walls. On one wall there was a flying thunder god kunai and that in itself was interesting but a seal like that meant that it was a way in and out. That seal was the focus points of Nara's arrival and exists, and as such the barrier around the seal was weaker than what it was around the rest of the walls.

Itachi approached it and sent the smallest spark of chakra into the walls where the barrier was situated. He watched his own chakra ripple through the barrier. He was correct. The barrier was weaker here.

So this was his focus point. In fact the barrier was weak enough that a simply teleportation jutsu would suffice. But it would be how he executed the jutsu that counted. A fire based teleportation would not work and his personalised crow based teleportation wouldn't even activate within the confines of the barrier. A standard Konoha teleportation?

He could only try.

Focusing his chakra Itachi performed the hand signs, thinking about the weakest spot in the barrier before releasing the jutsu.

His body tingled as the unnatural wind caressed over it before he felt the usual pressure of teleportation. His chest constricted for a moment and in that moment he was sure his heart was no longer beating.

But then he was standing outside, one a sunny yet rocky terrain. He didn't really have time to figure out where he was. Not _exactly_ anyways. He had agreed to spy for Konoha, infiltrate the Akatsuki but he would not stand by and watch it burn, no matter if his status as a spy was hindered.

Making up his mind Itachi did the one thing he could think of that would both save the Leaf and ruin his own plans. But for him the Leaf had always come first. Uchiha Itachi decided to go the Hokage rather than Pein.

* * *

**Hokage**

Itachi took a deep breath before preforming the one move that just might get him killed. He teleported directly into the room he had seen the Hokage go into. He was surprised that no one had spotted him yet, seen through his genjutsu but then again all the skilled Shinobi were all in a state of panic, trying to prepare for an attack that couldn't be prepared for. They didn't know enough about the Akatsuki for that.

The tension in the room grew to choking proportions as he suddenly appeared in the room using the most obvious jutsu he could think of as a way to show he meant no immediate harm. "Pardon my intrusion, Lady Tsunade but I really do need to speak to you."

One person in the room wasn't giving off a silent killing intent. That Shinobi seemed to be giving off a frustrated rage as they spun around and pointed a finger accusingly at him before yelling "Oh no! No you don't. I got here first."

Was this another informant for the Hokage? A quick glance at the overall appearance of the ninja and what he carried told him that the ninja had been about to show the Hokage some papers. The ninja's lack of chakra and identifying features told Itachi that he wasn't anyone worth worrying about. In fact, upon inspection he remembered the man to be the Academy instructor, Umino Iruka.

Taking in Umino's general appearance and his unreasonable anger at being interrupted, Itachi figured that there was more to this than what the others in the room had figured out. Iruka was almost desperate to give that report yet the Hokage brushed him aside carelessly when Itachi appeared with a curt "Sorry Umino but it's going to have to wait. Cat, please take Umino outside."

Did no one see that Iruka had been so enraged at the interruption that he hadn't even realised who Itachi was? That meant that he'd been trying to give that report for a while now.

As the door closed on Iruka's screams of desperate rage Itachi walked over to the docket that the Hokage had taken from Iruka and carelessly tossed onto her desk. He lifted it curiously, not at all fazed at the fact he was surrounded by several hostile ninja.

"Well Uchiha Itachi. You've got some guts showing up here." Tsunade very nearly growled.

"We've got a lot to discuss and not much time to do it in. I believe you're aware of the Uchiha massacre." Itachi replied basing the statement on her status as Hokage, not looking at her but rather at Iruka's documents that everyone else seemed to have ignored. What had the chunin been trying to tell them? Itachi knew that every piece of information right now would be crucial for them and as such should not have been ignored. Sandaime would not have.

Flipping the docket open he saw that it wasn't so much a document as it was a folder of pictures.

"Yes, everyone knows about the Uchiha massacre. – Leave those alone! – We all know how you slaughtered your whole clan to test your power." Tsunade snapped.

"So it seems that the truth about that night died with Sarutobi. I suspect the documents containing the truth disappeared with some help from Danzo." Itachi sighed, flipping through the pictures and ignoring Tsunade's growing anger. "No matter. There's not enough time to explain that. As I understand it, the Leaf is about to be invaded by Akatsuki."

"How do you not know that? You are Akatsuki."

Itachi paused in his perusing, Iruka's message having finally clicked into place. The only sign he gave of his surprise was the slight shaking of his hand.

"I've been in isolation for the past week. I only just managed to get out." Itachi replied to the question, his eyes never leaving the pages in front of him. "You might want to call Iruka back in here. His message is just as important as mine." Itachi added thoughtfully.

"What the hell are you doing here Uchiha? And don't give me orders." Tsunade demanded.

"Why not? I follow the Leaf's orders quite well. No matter. I'm here to lend a hand in your plans to defeat Pein. I suspect his invasion will be within the next few days. If my own plans go accordingly, then we shall end this all before that happens. I estimate another three minutes before phase two initiates." Itachi drawled, reminding those in the room far too much of Sasuke. "While we wait, I ask that no one informs dear foolish little brother of my presence. His adorable anger will make it harder to speak to you Lady Hokage."

"Adorable anger?"

Itachi looked to the voice, noting that Kakashi had been in the room the whole time.

"Yes. He doesn't even understand what he's fighting for, yet he does so blindly." Itachi replied, inclining his head slightly.

When Tsunade opened her mouth to ask him another question, Itachi held up a hand before picking up the docket and walking over to Kakashi and placing it in his hands.

"Whatever happens now, do not let the next person to arrive in this room to see that, no matter what."

Kakashi's gaze never left him, measuring his sincerity before he tucked the docket into his vest, hiding it from sight. Itachi stepped back only to have his body slammed against the wall and an angry ninja snarl at him. "Why the hell are you in Konoha?"

"Well Nara, it's nice to see you coming personally. It's rather touching and all but I'm afraid I did not. This is merely a shadow clone. See I couldn't risk you dragging me out of here once again. I'm in the Leaf to stay and you and I both know that unless you stop Pein from attacking, you'll fail in your goal to protect me. If you won't protect the Leaf, I will and this was the only thing I could come up with on such short notice." Itachi replied while Nara's eyes flashed in angry realisation.

"You've hidden yourself in the Leaf somewhere in such a way that I won't be able to find you and because of Pein's jutsu you know that unless I stop him, you'll die in his attack. Clever sensei. Very clever. You even gave up your status as a missing-nin and as a member of the Akatsuki so that you could do it. Just another thing you've sacrificed for this village." Nara grinned at him but it wasn't a happy grin.

"Better hurry up and decide what you're going to do Nara because Pein isn't going to wait forever. Are you going to save the Leaf or are you going to let me die?" Itachi asked, his tone still emotionless as he stared at the Shinobi in front of him.

Now that he knew what to look for it was so obvious. He felt almost shamed that a chunin had figured it out before he had.

"Saving the Leaf means that you get to explain your side of the story." Nara muttered, his gaze leaving Itachi's face. "Leaving you to die means that I failed in my mission and the Leaf will be destroyed, but not all if it's people. Still a good many will die and that is not a part of my plan, it's not our desire. Sasuke that jerk will probably be one of the survivors as fates reminder of how much their sense of humour sucks and then it'll all be for nothing." Nara had a nasty habit of talking to himself and he was doing it now. "DAMN IT Itachi! You've ruined everything just by doing one thing! My plans all mean SHIT now!" Nara yelled angrily. Then his features changed to a wolfish smirk. "However this does have its advantages. Yes . . . I can work with this. So what do you want me to do?"

* * *

**Some wise observations from an amazing fellow author, Thanathos, that I thought I'd share. Got them in a review:**

_On a slightly related note, your fic got me thinking that there are two kinds of events that break a person._  
_ The first is what Sasuke, and to a certain extent Kakashi, experienced, one or more massively traumatizing events. It works a bit like a battering-ram in the way that it's a sudden blow with great power breaking the mind in one blow. There may be further blows, but they're basically just single massive strikes that can come out of nowhere._  
_ The second type is the one your Naruto went through. Unlike the battering-ram of massive trauma, this is more like snow on a roof. They're just small, insignificant events, a rejection here, an injustice there and a dissapointment there. In a positive environment these are quickly forgotten, melting away in the warmth of happiness. However in an environment where the warmth is insufficient or even entirely absent, these small things don't melt, and if those events continue then like snow it all keeps piling up, eventually solidifying under its own weight. The rejections harden into loneliness, injustice galvanizes into resentment, and dissapointment forms despair. Every new event, even though relatively minor and insignificant on their own, makes the pile grow larger, until eventually the 'roof' that had acted as a shield can no longer hold the weight, and the mind buckles from the strain as it all comes down. I believe this is by far the crueler way for a mind to break._  
_ With the first way it tends to come with little warning, but in turn it also comes with little burden beforehand. After the event one pulls himself together in some fashion, painful as that may be, but the entire strain comes only once the mind has broken. In the second way the suffering begins long before the actual break. Going back to our snow-comparision, the individual feels the strain of the growing pressure, they feel their suffering increase with every slight, every time they can feel themselves dying a little more on the inside. By the time the breaking-point is finally reached, the person has already experienced a long period of unimaginable suffering. And then they have to go through the pain of trying to pull yourself together._  
_ A mind broken by the first method is a bit like a piece of smashed pottery or shattered glass. With enough effort, you can put the pieces back together and, even though it may never be the way it was before, you get something that at least resembles the original. A mind broken by the second method on the other hand is more akin to an object that was slowly worn down, time and circumstances chipping away at it and shaving off layer by layer until it crumbles under its own weight. It is practically impossible to try and make things like they were before, because the structure that was there before the break was already too damaged to last. Because of this the rebuilt mind has take a vastly different shape than the one it had before, and this means that the person others knew, or thought to know, from before generally no longer exists, or if it does then only as a fragment._


	12. Chapter 12

**A HUUUUUGE thanks to my amazing Betas! This story is better with you guys. Seriously, it really is. **

**Thank you to all those that read and review this story, or just plain stick around and read it. Means a lot to me. **

**As for updates, this is a quick little update before my exams begin so really DO NOT EXPECT THE NEXT UPDATE FOR AT LEAST A MONTH! Seriously. It won't be there. **

**Till next update and as always, got any questions put in a review. XD**

**Chapter 12**

Nara stared at the Uchiha as he waited for him to say something. The whole room was tensed up, ready to attack at a moment's notice. Itachi was silent, simply observing everything around him for a moment. Jiraiya and Tsunade were_ firmly_ giving a secret signal to the ANBU – Itachi's former brethren and as such they took his actions perhaps far more personally than Sasuke ever did – to not attack for now but to be on the lookout for an opening. Tsunade knew that this could provide some answers. She wasn't about to scare the Uchiha off by having a dozen or so ANBU trying to either kill or capture him.

Nara himself seemed tense, his body language showing he wasn't happy despite the grin on his face. Was the idea of saving Konoha that undesirable to him? It just didn't seem right to Itachi. Nara had never once expressed hatred or even a mild dislike for Konoha.

Itachi knew that he was going to have to tread carefully and he also knew that he could either play the Akatsuki member here for their own goals or he could play the wronged Uchiha brother forced to do a terrible deed. Which one would get him what he wanted? Or more accurately, which one would Nara leave as his only option.

"Go to Pein and tell him the truth." Itachi said simply.

"Is it really going to be that easy?" Nara asked with a raised brow, lips twitching in a suppressed smirk. Nara's appearance was very much like the other personas. Only he didn't wear shades, a hoodie or orange gloves. He only wore long sleeve shirts with mask attachments and the usual bland black pants with the dark brown boots. He didn't wear a headband either, slashed or otherwise. What truly set Nara apart was the sword strapped to his back. It looked a lot like the one he'd given Konohamaru, only he was far more efficient at using it. Some of his training had come from Kisame after all.

"He's a reasonable man. I'm sure he'll be delighted to know that attacking the Leaf will be nothing more than a waste of chakra _before_ he attacks it." Itachi replied. Pein had a grudge against the place but not that much of one. Pein also liked not having to do anything unnecessary and attacking the Leaf right now would be classified as such.

Nara could see that Itachi was being perfectly serious. He huffed and looked away. He hated being dragged into things he really didn't want to be involved in. When one thought about it, this whole thing wasn't even his fault. It would've happen with or without him so why did he have to save the day. Did he even want to? Did he care about the Leaf at all anymore? Simply put, he would always be loyal to Konoha, he just had some issues with Sasuke he wanted to sort out first.

Thinking of Sasuke . . . . .

Turning back to Itachi with a smirk, Nara asked in a sickly sweet tone. He just couldn't resist. "But Itachi, why should I nip this all in the bud and deny young Sasuke another chance at glory? After all he's _quite_ the hero in the Leaf. Who knows, the brat just might be able to do something against Pein. I wonder though, just how much he'll be able to accomplish without Naruto."

"Nara. Go now or I will dispel and you won't get anything from me." Itachi hissed, his eyes narrowing with the words, showing the first signs of emotions: Impatience. He would not play along with Nara. Nara was worse than Ibiki at times. He just knew what to say and when to say it.

"Yes . . . sensei." Nara smiled slowly before backing away and disappearing into a shadow. Somehow that didn't make Itachi feel any better. Nara was a bigger threat than Pein ever was.

"Care to explain Itachi?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes, tone lowering to one that promised imminent bodily harm if his answer was not satisfactory for the Fifth Hokage of Konoha.

"He's the only one that can stop Pein, or rather the only one Pein will believe. He just needs the right motivation to do so." Itachi replied. "As you learned on that mission, his whole purpose in life is to make sure I don't die. I understand now why he's doing it. He is trying his very best to get in Sasuke's way of ever achieving anything. So naturally he'd start by protecting me. As such I did the one thing that would force him into acting for the Leaf's benefit: I put myself directly in harm's way."

"We understand that much, but what we don't get is why? Why would you be trying to protect the Leaf?" Kakashi asked, shaking his head.

"To answer that I will have to circle back to the events before, during and after the night I killed my clan." Itachi replied. "And that is something we do not have time for. If you believe that you'll gain more by torturing me then by all means, do so. Just know that you'll be wasting effort better spent elsewhere. I will explain my actions in time but for now, it's not the best option."

Itachi walked over to the Hokage's desk, noting that it held a lot of documents and casually swept them aside. One of the ninja in the room, probably the one that had organised them all, squawked indignantly but he made no move to reprimand the missing-nin. On the table itself however, there was a map of the elemental nations and that was what Itachi wanted.

He picked up a brush from an inkpot and began to circle certain locations on the map while crossing others out.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tsunade demanded, her voice rising several pitches in her anger. "Do you have so much faith in that boy's ability to stop this Pein Shinobi that you're willing to dismiss all our preparations so easily?"

"Pein is a Shinobi who doesn't like wasting anything, be it money, chakra or time . . . especially time. Nara is the Kage and as such Pein will believe him because he respects the Kage's accomplishments. He was even thinking of recruiting the Kage, he just could not figure out why the Kage had defected from his village and as such had nothing to offer him." Itachi replied after a moment of thought.

"And I have given Nara a very strong incentive. I know him far better than you do so I have a better understanding of his abilities. Such as that multi-personality thing he has. You probably think it's a result of a shattered mind and in a way you're right but you're also wrong." Itachi had paused in his marking of the map to look directly at Tsunade.

"What else could it be?" Tsunade snapped.

"Since when did the personalities in a shattered mind, or in this case a sectioned mind, ever have a purpose? No, it's not a fractured mind but rather a jutsu. The boy created a shadow clone that was as real as an actual Shinobi. You'd never be able to tell the difference, not even with a Sharingan and I suspect a Byakugan. However, the jutsu was flawed. While the clones were exactly what he wanted, they did not replicate his personality. They did not act independently. Essentially, in the natural order of things, they had no purpose. So he had to give them one and as such he created each personality with a specific purpose in mind. Since they use shadow clones as bodies, they can be anywhere they want to be, so long as there's a clone at that location. I believe he has several clone bodies in all the hidden villages." Itachi explained.

"But what you're describing, it's only further flawed. The boy should have stopped when his clones failed to have self-awareness." Inoichi interrupted.

"Indeed. He's not the sanest Shinobi I've met and he is rather foolish. His stubbornness to achieve his goals meant that he was willing to disregard the potential dangers of such a thing if only for the advantage of being everywhere at once. His control over the other personalities is absolute however, so I do not believe it will become a problem for him. The phrase ruling with a fist of iron comes to mind." Itachi mused.

"What dangers are we talking about here?" Kakashi asked, merely for the sake of the other Shinobi in the room.

"When there is more than one personality within a mind, the stronger one always dominates. By creating such vastly different personalities, he has created the potential of having his own personality erased. As I understand it based on what Itachi had described, each personality will have different motivations and desires and as such they could very well conflict with each other. Such as Menma who is more likely to become loyal to the Leaf as opposed to Nin and the Kage who seem to each have their own agendas in mind. Each personality can easily be identified. Menma was more of a comrade to your team, while Nin was more of a one man team ready to take on anything alone. The Kage was the personality in interrogation." Inoichi explained.

"So the three are fighting more than usual it seems. I believe it's because he's finally decided to act. As far as I've managed to learn from him, he's been focusing on training and not acting these last couple years. Why act now though?" Itachi seemed to be talking more to himself.

"He called you sensei?" Jiraiya pointed out, speaking up suddenly.

"Hmmm? Yes, well Leader thought it was humorous to make me teach him fire style. Kisame taught him water style, something he's far more proficient at than fire style. His strength lies in Seals and Wind style. Fire style is his weakest and it's probably the only one he used while in the Leaf. Take the fire style techniques you saw and collaborate them with his Wind Style. If he truly wished it, he would crush the Leaf with little to no effort." Itachi answered, his gaze hardening.

"You're telling me that there's nothing we can do against this boy?" Tsunade asked, her tone conveying her disbelief.

"There's a reason Orochimaru doesn't like him." Itachi chuckled, shocking quite a few people in the room. "That snake bastard tried one too many times to steal both Nara's body and mine. The problem for him, was that he kept nabbing Shadow clones. He was convinced that Nara had some sort of bloodline limit. He doesn't. Orochimaru leaving the Akatsuki hideout alive after sneaking in once again was a mercy on Nara's part. Now he follows Nara around when he can to beg the boy to help him gain Sasuke's body. Surprisingly, Nara is strangely violently opposed to this which is why Orochimaru has taken a proverbial page out of Nara's book and taken to only approaching him with a clone of some sort." Itachi paused as though considering something. "Though the boy never had liked Orochimaru for some reason . . . that I suppose has now become all too clear to me."

"So that's what Orochimaru wants from him. We'd heard that the traitor was propositioning the boy but he kept refusing the snake." Jiraiya muttered.

"Konohamaru?" Itachi asked with a raised brow before continuing as though the answer didn't really matter, and perhaps it didn't. "Either way, there is one conceivable way to defeat him, a slim one at that. I do have another idea but I believe that in the long run we should focus on the first one." Itachi seemed to be returning his attention back to the map.

"Why is there a 'we' in this?"

"You need my help and despite what you've been led to believe, I do have the Leaf's best interest at heart. Now, the first thing we have to do is get that chunin in here." Itachi replied not even looking up at the speaker.

"Why should we believe you, why should we trust you?" Kakashi asked.

"You don't have a choice. Nara has been growing more and more unstable as the years have passed. Either we stop him while we can, or we bow in front of him and give him what he wants." Itachi's tone was as serious as he got.

"One Shinobi cannot be that powerful! He has to have a weakness." Tsunade slammed a hand down on the table to emphasise her point.

"In Nara's case, his weakness is Menma, and the truth about who he is." Itachi replied, his voice just as toneless as ever while Tsunade's grew more frustrated.

"Alright then who is he?!" Tsunade yelled.

Instead of answering, Itachi turned to the door just before a knock came from the other side. Tsunade gapped in surprise at it before shaking herself mentally and striding over to the door hurriedly. She pulled open the door with more force than necessary only to stumble back in surprise as she came face to face with the stoic blankness of Itachi.

Itachi walked into the room and they all realised he wasn't alone when he tugged impatiently at the arm of another Shinobi. A startled Iruka was being dragged along like a dog on a leash, staring with wide eyes at the missing nin dragging him around.

"I'm starting to get a headache." Kakashi groaned. "What the hell does Iruka have to do with this?"

"You wonder why Uzumaki Naruto managed to slip past all the patrols, managed to evade capture and remain hidden for four and a half years, yet you also fail to notice when one of your own Shinobi has something valuable to tell you. In a time such as this, all information should've have been given priority. It has become exceedingly clear to me why Sarutobi never selected one of his own pupils for the position of Hokage." Itachi stated while the one that had been dragging Iruka into the room dispersed making it apparent that it had been nothing more than a clone.

"What is he doing here?" Iruka asked uncomfortably, "And why does he want me here?"

"That's what we'd all like to know." Tsunade growled through clenched teeth and slammed the door shut.

Itachi walked over to Kakashi and simply held out his hand. Kakashi said nothing other than to take the folder Itachi had given him earlier and to hand it back to the Uchiha. Iruka's eyes widened at the folder before understanding dawned.

"Umino Iruka, Academy Instructor and chunin of the Leaf, managed to figure out something that the rest of the Shinobi nations, including its most feared members, could not. Umino Iruka managed to find out the true identity of Nara." Itachi opened the folder while the room grew deathly silent. He casually took out each page within the folder and placed them onto the table so that all could see them. The first page was a standard picture of Iruka which confused some of those present. The second picture was of Aburame Shino, further confusing those present. The third picture was of Hatake Kakashi. The fifth picture was one of Uchiha Sasuke. Placed on top of all of those was a startlingly accurate drawing of Menma.

"Do you see what Iruka saw?" Itachi asked, his gaze going to the stunned chunin.

He waited only a moment before lifting the last picture from the folder and placing it down on the pile. This one was completely different from the others in the sense that it wasn't a serious, blank faced registration photograph. No, this one was happy, lively and mischievous all at once. The large innocent eyes were staring at the camera with a determination that made one think he was challenging the very world and felt confident enough to take it on.

It was Uzumaki Naruto.

Kakashi was the first to react. He snatched the pictures up, spreading them out so that he could see all of them. Iruka's eyes, an Aburame's fashion sense, Kakashi's appearance with Sasuke's hair colour. A blend of features to create something that was the perfect image of a Shinobi . . . . . apart from Iruka's eyes. Uchiha were known for black hair and as such it was automatically a colour considered to be cautious around even though the Uchiha were wiped out years previously. It was still an instinctual action in all ninjas. Hatake Kakashi, Sharingan no Kakashi. It was no mystery as to why he was the main aspect in the whole disguise. All Aburame were dressed so that it made it extremely difficult to assess their physical skill as well as their appearance when taken out of those clothes. All in all – excluding Iruka's eyes – the perfect Shinobi disguise.

How had he missed it? He'd had the boy with him for weeks! He'd been dropping hints the entire time. Even while in interrogation.

"_Uzumaki was right! You can't even see it. For all your great prowess on the battle field, you can't even see something so simple. It's right there, in front of your nose but you just can't see it. Why can't you see something so juvenile? Well stupidity must be contagious. I bet you got it from Uzumaki."_

Just one of the many hints that he'd been given . . . one of the many he'd missed.

"In order to stop Nara, we need to find the real one. We need to find Uzumaki and that's where Umino comes in." Itachi stated quietly while Kakashi stared at the papers in shock.

"I need to get out of here." Kakashi finally managed to say, his voice sounding strained.

"But you cannot. We need to find Uzumaki and there are only a select few able to do so. You and Umino are two of those people. He wasn't close to many of the villagers before his departure and it was likely something caused by either Umino or Sasuke that caused the boy to leave. As such I believe it's time to talk to my foolish little brother." Itachi replied, his tone growing if possible even more serious.

In short, there was no time right now for any sort of reaction other than shock. Every person in this room had to keep it together and move to the next objective. They could not allow themselves to lose it just yet if at all.

Itachi for some strange reason collected the images and put them back into the folder before handing it to one of the Shinobi in the room with a quiet, "Don't let anyone else see that." The way he said it made it seem like the most important thing in the world. The startled Shinobi looked to Tsunade who huffed before waving a hand, and in doing so giving him permission to follow the order from Itachi.

"Sasuke won't talk to you." Kakashi was adamant on that one. "He'd much rather kill you."

"Hmmm, yes I suppose he would. He's a good little brother like that, young and impressionable. However, right now I don't have time to play games with him. He's just going to have to be patient. After all I'm offering to help him find his missing teammate." Itachi waved a hand dismissively as though Sasuke's rage didn't mean much to him. Kakashi stared at the older Uchiha in disbelief. Just what _had_ happened the night of the Uchiha massacre and just how strong was Itachi for him to not be concerned about Sasuke _at all_?

"Inoichi, please go and get Uchiha Sasuke. We actually haven't had the chance to question him about that incident with the Kage. This appears to be as good a time as any." Tsunade sighed.

"Wait, I thought he said not to inform Sasuke of his presence?" Jiraiya interrupted.

"I have long since come to the conclusion that all things involving Uzumaki will inevitably involve my foolish little brother." Itachi explained. "As such he must have contributed in some way to Naruto's decision to leave and having a better understanding of the reason the boy left will help me to have a better understanding of how to find him."

Inoichi waited a moment longer to see if anyone was going to say anything more. When no one did he darted out the door, leaving those behind him to fall into an awkward silence.

"Oh man. This is too weird." Iruka groaned, deciding that he'd had enough for one week and went to sit in a corner until someone needed something from him. Many, if not all, found that they agreed with him.

"I wonder when Nara will return." Itachi murmured thoughtfully.

"This Nara, how smart is he?" Shikaku asked, his voice sounding bored.

Itachi cocked his head to the side slightly as he considered how to answer the question. He wasn't entirely sure just what Nara was capable of. He knew that should the boy want something done, it would be done no matter how seemingly impossible the task may be. But would he go so far as to call the boy a genius? Or just stubborn?

In the end Itachi wasn't the one that had to provide the answer. Kakashi shifted slightly as he raised a hand to rub his masked chin thoughtfully.

"Put it this way, Uzumaki's father was the Fourth Hokage. The boy wasn't as dumb as he made himself appear. He just didn't have the incentive to use his mind for more than arranging those pranks the ANBU had to chase after him for. He's also managed to evade capture from not only his team, his comrades and the Leaf, but also all the hidden villages in the elemental nations. He's figured out how to perform the sealing arts when there are few to no teachers on the subject. He's able to use all five elements even if he has done so through sheer foolish determination and not for the preservation of chakra in mind and has managed to manipulate the shadows in a way the Nara have not. He also figured out the Flying Thunder God technique with the use of nothing more than a few general ideas and an old photograph in a bingo book. Add all that to his mother's stubborn determination and sadism, his natural luck and general personality, and I'd say we have a very dangerous and unpredictable opponent on our hands." Kakashi summarised, making more than a few Shinobi realise just what they were dealing with.

"He's not flawless. He just planned it so far that he appears to be that way." Itachi informed them, returning his attention to the map and continuing to mark off areas.

"The fact that Naruto planned anything gives me a headache." Kakashi groaned.

"You should have more faith in your student, after all, he is no longer the boy who left four and a half years ago." Itachi reminded with a sharp gaze.

"Lady Hokage." Inoichi hadn't bothered with a door. He's teleported into the room in the same silent fashion as an ANBU would've. "We have a problem. Uchiha, uh the younger one, is attacking one of the Uzumaki clones."

"Oh Kami." Kakashi sighed and somehow, '_oh Kami_' just didn't quite cover it.

* * *

**Pein and Nara**

"I know you're there. I can see you." Pein drawled.

Nara grinned before approaching the six paths that were currently watching Konoha. The village was still some distance away but the paths were standing on higher ground, staring down into the distance in which Konoha was visible. The entire image was more than a little unsettling since Nara knew just how powerful the other Shinobi was. Seeing him staring at Konoha like that, like he was sizing up a piece of meat . . . Nara was surprised to find that he didn't like it, not at all.

"Hello Pein. Long time no see." Nara began.

"What do you want? Another teacher. I believe Tobi had yet to teach you anything. He's starting to get on my nerves." Pein replied, not really paying attention to the boy as he approached.

"No. I'm fine with my abilities. I just came to tell you that attacking the Leaf is pointless. Uzumaki isn't there."

"You should mind your own business. Zetsu confirmed his presence in Suna." Pein replied and this time there was a hint of warning in his otherwise bland tone.

"You shouldn't believe everything you see." Nara tsked. "We are Shinobi. We like playing games with one another. As such, our dear friend the Kage was pretending to be Naruto for amusement, knowing that you would be watching. Isn't he delightful?"

"The Kage was killed." Pein seemed to be saying this only for the sake of having something to reply with. Nara could tell he didn't actually believe it.

"A ninja like that is seldom so easily killed. He's been having fun in Konoha for the past couple weeks. Heck I'd even go so far as to say months." Nara shook his head in mock disgust at his own actions.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Well I believe in good graces and I figured since you've been helping me out by providing me with the best teachers one can ever hope for, I'd help you out too. See I'd be real mad if it turned out all my big efforts were nothing but a waste. As satisfying as stomping on the Leaf is, it's completely useless if it does not contain the one you want." Nara explained in a light tone.

"What reason can you give for me to believe you? How do I know that you're not simply trying to save the Leaf? That you're not working for them?"

"Good question. Hmmm, does 'I should know what the Kage does better than anyone because I am the Kage' work for you?" Nara asked while his appearance morphed into that of the Kage, letting Pein see everything; understand everything. The only reaction he got was a narrowing of the eyes.

"As the Kage I did stay out of your way with only one warning. Stay away from Gaara. You _did_ try to kill me too and you ordered the death of one of my most useful informants so I had to kill Sasori and Deidera." Nara added, letting the henge drop.

"I'd offer you a place among us, to replace those you killed but I don't think you'd accept." Pein replied, his arm shifting slightly. Nara did not move his eyes towards that arm. It took almost all of his willpower just to pretend he hadn't noticed it.

"I'm honoured that you believe me to be that skilled. After all, before today I was nothing but a pest to you." Nara replied carefully.

"Tobi is a pest, you're merely an inconvenience or rather a convenient way to punish those who do not fully dedicate themselves to my cause." Pein replied.

Nara had to laugh at that. "I don't know why you allow that ninja to stick around. As for your offer to join the Akatsuki, perhaps later after I finish my own personal goals. Just don't go after Gaara. I know he's rather central to your plans and all but I'm afraid I will be forced to kill any and all who attempt to take him, unless you can find a way to extract the tailed beast without killing him."

"I see. Well if Uzumaki isn't in the village then it is pointless to attack. Tell me, why did you impersonate Uzumaki in the first place?"

"To cause the Leaf pain. They all have some weird guilt complex about the boy. It's really funny actually." Nara wasn't about to tell him all of his plans. Pein might have accepted that he was the Kage but that didn't mean he accepted Nara for his capabilities. He still saw the ninja as the annoying fourteen year old ninja that had asked Itachi to teach him fire style. Nara didn't see any problem with allowing him to continue to see things that way.

"Do you know if Itachi is in the village?"

"Actually yes. But where? That I don't know. His presence is well hidden." Nara mused, turning away from Pein to glance at the village behind him.

He should not have done that. The kunai hit him squarely in the middle of his shoulder blades, knocking the air from his lungs. Nara didn't even bother to widen his eyes in surprise but rather to roll them in annoyance as the clone fell to its knees and puffed away, the kunai clattering to the floor. Nara sent another clone towards Pein, this one with a scowl in its features.

"That wasn't very nice." Nara complained.

"I've never professed to being nice. It hurts my reputation to just let you roam freely after pulling a stunt like that. However, if you should evade all my attempts to kill you then we both come out of this just fine. I assume this is another clone." It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

"Yes. Now as for Itachi. What are you going to do about him? I'm rather attached to him. He is my sensei after all." Nara replied narrowing his eyes. He expected at least one more attempt on his life before this conversation was over.

"He's taking a long time to break free. Well he'd better have a good excuse for it. This is his onetime village after all so perhaps they're making it particularly hard for him."

"Maybe he's lingering to say hello to little Sasuke." Nara smirked. "That boy has a stick up his ass, and deep too. Itachi sure did a number on that kid. Last Uchiha my ass. He's pathetic. Not half as powerful as he likes to boast about." Nara scoffed with a grumble.

"Not everyone is like you. Your methods of training are unique. I will be going now. I trust both you and Itachi will return to the base soon." The threat was clear.

Man, that was an order if Nara had ever heard one. Was the man already counting him among the members of the Akatsuki? It was odd but thanks to Nara's interference he was starting to get a little low on members altogether. S-class missing-nin didn't grow on trees after all and Pein snatched them up fairly quickly.

The six paths turned and walked away, not at all concerned about an attack, after all they would see it coming, no matter where it came from. No other attempt on his life came but then Nara had never understood how Pein's mind worked. It was just too alien to him. He was sure that Pein could say the same about him though.

Nara watched them go, a coldness spreading across his features that belied the casual, almost friendly conversation they'd just had. Pein was one opponent he did not want in the near future. Half of what a ninja did when faced with another powerful ninja was bluff; bluff your way out of it before you die.

He figured he could at least match Pein. Unless he relied on the Kyuubi but that defeated the whole point of hiding in plain sight didn't it?

* * *

**Hidden Leaf**

"I want the ANBU to stop all the Leaf Shinobi that are attacking the Uzumaki clones right now. Use as little force as possible." Tsunade barked at the assembled ANBU. She'd called an emergency meeting after learning that the Konoha 11 were currently engaged in various battles around the village.

More and more Shinobi were joining in, teaming up against the clones that had popped up for some reason.

"Itachi, you'll stay here with Jiraiya, Inoichi and Shikaku. Discuss some battle plans to subdue these blasted clones."

Itachi said nothing about the command. The Hokage was simply too flustered right now to care that he was a missing-nin. She hadn't forgotten it. She'd just taken advantage of a good thing while she had it. After all, she'd gathered as much that Itachi for some strange unearthly reason was deciding to help the Leaf. She wasn't about to punch the gift horse. He was considered a genius and why waste something like that?

The rest of the Shinobi in the room were ordered to assist the ANBU. It wasn't an easy task as all of the Konoha 11 and some of their sensei were hell bent on capturing one of the clones or at least finding out just how durable they were. Not to mention the Konoha 11 were the promise of the Leaf, the next generation that was to support the entire village. Subduing them was going to be tedious and probably painful.

However, some of the ninja had other effective methods. One such ninja was Hatake Kakashi.

"Sakura! Cease immediately!" Kakashi snapped when he spotted the pink haired kunoichi.

"What?! I thought he was the enemy." Sakura yelled back as she sprang away from the clone who had been playfully dodging her attacks.

Before Kakashi could explain a loud growl interrupted him and one of the Inuzuka nin-dogs sprang at the clone, it's large jaw clamping down on the surprised clone's neck. This one puffed away, almost like a regular clone.

"No time to explain, just help me get everyone to stop attacking!" Kakashi yelled at his confused student. "Especially Sasuke."

* * *

**Konohamaru**

Konohamaru swung the sword with a scream of rage. He had never felt this betrayed in his life! Not even when Naruto had left the village right when he'd needed the blond the most.

He'd trusted Nin and this was what he got for his trust, a traitor out to destroy everything he loved.

Never again!

"You should put that down Konohamaru, before you hurt yourself." Nin said, and Konohamaru almost believed there was a frown in his tone, a hint of concern, but traitors didn't feel concern.

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Konohamaru yelled attacking once again. "I trusted you!"

"You never asked me what my goals were." Nin replied dodging with an ease that only further enraged the other ninja.

"Like you would've told me!" Konohamaru huffed, changing the direction of the sword's path mid swing. A feat that impressed Nin.

_Good point kid. Good point. _

* * *

**Itachi**

Itachi sighed when he realised that the Leaf village was far too panicked right now to get anything right. If this went on, they were only going to cause far more damage than what could be fixed. As it was, it might already be too late.

He stepped out of his hiding place, risking Nara finding him, and set out to find one of the vessel clones. A lot of the clones around the village were just normal shadow clones. It took too much chakra to make the vessels in battle.

Another thing to ponder, why where there clones in the village at all? Why so many?

"Afternoon Kage. Mind if I speak to you for a moment? I want to give a message to Nara." Itachi drawled as he approached the other ninja. He was perched on the roof of a building, observing the arguably humorous fighting below. At Itachi's request he cocked his head to the side and did the one thing he probably shouldn't have.

He removed his glasses as he gave Itachi a sideways sneer. A habit that was going to cost him because he was now looking directly into Itachi's Sharingan.

"Menma, how would you like to play with Nin and Kage? I hear you're all in the same area at the moment." Itachi asked the dazed clone.

Slowly, emotion began to flicker to life on the clone's face before a large grin spread under the mask.

"Very much so Itachi sensei. Just keep that Sharingan active and we sure can have some fun." Menma replied before disappearing into a shadow.

The three never had gotten along and now it was going to come back to bite Nara on the behind. Itachi just had to find a way to keep Menma in control. The other personalities could very well force Menma out and then destroy him. Nara had grumbled about Kakashi and the Leaf's abilities in the Sealing arts. Perhaps it was time to go to the silver haired jonin.

* * *

**Kakashi and Sakura**

"Kiba, stop attacking!" Kakashi yelled but the Inuzuka had already rushed out of hearing distance, chasing after a taunting clone.

"I'll handle this sensei." Sakura assured with a smirk that made the older Shinobi shudder. He'd seen that slightly innocent smirk that hid the true evil intentions before, usually before he found himself eating dirt because he'd offended her in some way. That was also round about the time when he'd be wondering how Naruto ever lived with so many whacks like that to his noggin.

A simple transportation jutsu was all it took for Sakura to get in front of Kiba. A sharp blow to the head was enough to slow him down. The devastating kick to his ribs however, was just plain spite.

"When a superior gives you an order Kiba, you follow it." Sakura said sweetly as Kakashi wearily approached, not at all caring that technically the Inuzuka hadn't even heard the order due to his hastiness, "Don't you?"

"S-sorry Sakura." Kiba coughed in reply. "Won't happen again."

"That's so good to hear, now help Kakashi-sensei and I to stop the rest of the morons." Sakura replied with an evil smile.

"I thought he was the enemy." Kiba frowned.

"Well, turns out the situation is more complicated than it first appeared. We need him." Kakashi replied. "So let's get to it."

Sakura and Kiba – followed closely by Akamaru – went ahead of Kakashi who was about to catch up when an approaching Shinobi called out to him.

Kakashi paused long enough to note that the Shinobi was under a henge and the ninja underneath the henge was Itachi. Perhaps even the real one this time.

"What seals do you have? From the time you were trying to get information out of the Kage?" Itachi stated immediately, not beating around the bush.

"Why?" Kakashi demanded instead.

"I want to know if you had any that would trap a personality within the clone it was occupying, essentially cutting it off from the rest of the personalities." Itachi replied.

"Menma." Kakashi guessed easily enough.

Itachi inclined his head in agreement before continuing. "Yes. I have already brought his personality into a position of control in one of the vessels. Not all of the clones around the village are the vessels. Some are just regular shadow clones. The problem is, he can be overridden in a sense at any time and that would not suit our purposes."

"By having Menma we can get information." Kakashi stated thoughtfully. "We created two seals, one to interfere with the seals he places on himself and one to trap a personality." Kakashi explained. "We had already figured that Menma would be of use to the Leaf, more so than any of the other personalities."

"Send out three systematic pulses of chakra. Menma will feel them and come here." Itachi instructed.

"Why not you?"

"Sasuke." Was the curt reply.

Kakashi didn't like it but he did as Itachi asked. His chakra flared brightly for a moment before dimming. This was repeated twice before he let his charka flow naturally once more.

A shadow to their left distorted before Menma walked towards them, a slight smile on his face as his eyes shone in exhilaration.

"Hay sensei, what's up?" Menma asked addressing Itachi. Kakashi stared at the boy that he now knew was an extension of Naruto and he felt his emotions lurch. He could not afford this on the battlefield so he hesitantly shoved it all aside to focus on the task at hand.

"Kakashi has a seal that will trap you in this vessel." Itachi began, getting to the point.

"Really?" Menma asked before looking to Kakashi with a wince. "Sorry about Suna. Nin can be a real jerk sometimes." He added.

"Lift your shirt." Kakashi replied gruffly. He wasn't going to talk about Suna. He didn't particularly care that Menma hadn't even agreed to this either. He knew that trapping Menma in this body meant that he could die here and now. Menma would be displaying an infinite amount of trust by letting Kakashi place the seal on him.

Yet he didn't protest at all. He grinned in a way that reminded Kakashi of himself before easily lifting the shift and displaying his stomach.

Kakashi pulled out the second seal Jiraiya had created and charged it with chakra before he slammed it onto Menma's chest. Menma oofed softly at the force of the impact but otherwise did not say anything.

He lowered his shirt before raising a hand and testing his chakra flow.

"Seems good." Menma mused. "No side effects, no pain, no discomfort . . . cool!" Kakashi was momentarily distracted by how real the clone was. Pain and discomfort were not something shadow clones particularly cared about.

Menma stiffened suddenly before turning towards a building and staring at the roof. Both Kakashi and Itachi turned to see a glaring Nara who narrowed his eyes in silent warning before he disappeared into a swirl of darkness that could only be shadows. "He's not happy." Menma groaned. "And when he's not happy, it gets unpleasant."

"That's an understatement." Itachi was frowning as well, wondering what was going to happen next.

Sudden shouts of surprise and joy rose up into the air around them. Itachi strengthened his henge when he felt others approach their position.

"What's happening with the other clones?" he asked, looking at Menma.

Menma shrugged. "I don't know. I lost my connection to them when the seal was placed. My guess is that they're leaving."

"Why were they here in the first place?" Kakashi asked, watching Menma carefully.

"Well Nara came here to get Itachi. The Kage and Nin were here as back up but they were supposed to remain hidden. I guess the Kage couldn't resist taunting Sasuke when he saw him and what ensued was the village wide fallout with the Shinobi. There were only three vessels in the village that were active. When Itachi pulled me to the surface of the Kage's vessel he was forced to use one of the ones that are hidden in the Leaf. The rest of the clones were just normal shadow clones." Menma explained with a slight frown.

"Tell me something, what will happen should you lose consciousness or get injured?" Kakashi asked, tilting his head slightly.

"If you're worried about what it will take to dispel me, then I guess the same it would take to kill me. I am able to make my own chakra but not at the rate and quantity that the original me can. Also having lost the connection to the other clones I no longer have the ability to sense emotions, the negative ones anyways." _And I no longer have the ability to use the Kyuubi's chakra._ "In short I'm like a regular ninja now. Regular meaning I have the same reserves as you. I can get hold of the other vessels within the Village but transferring to them will be difficult and those vessels will not have the seal on it. To the others, this vessel has now been contaminated." Menma explained, tilting his head slightly and looking upwards to show that he was actually thinking about it.

"Sensei!" Sakura called as she rounded a corner. "The clones just left, or dispelled or whatever it is that they do."

Then she caught sight of Menma and the conflict was visible on her features.

"What's he doing here? I thought they all left?" Choji asked.

It appeared that all the Konoha 11 were making their way over as well as their respective sensei. However Sasuke was noticeably absent.

"Menma is . . ." Kakashi trailed off here, wondered just what Menma was. Was he an ally? He hadn't stated as much.

"I'm helping you guys." Menma grinned, a hand lifting to the back of his head and Kakashi had to look away. Now that he knew who Menma was, who he really was, it was hard to miss the signs.

"Why?" Neji asked but before anyone could reply they were interrupted.

Above them an eagle's lonesome cry pierced the sky, summoning them to the Hokage.

They froze for a moment, simply watching the bird as it circled once before heading back to the aviary.

Then they simply disappeared.

* * *

**Hokage tower**

Standing on the roof of the Hokage tower, Jiraiya and Tsunade stood as one, facing the gathered Shinobi. Both their faces were stern, meaning that they were about to disclose undesirable, perhaps even sensitive information and Iruka gulped, having a better idea of exactly what this was all about than most of the other Shinobi. The Konoha 11 stood behind the two, looking just as grim, and two cloaked Shinobi stood slightly to the side.

Most would see the position of the Konoha 11 as unfair, a promotion of rookies that had no right to rise through the ranks as fast and as far as they had. Yet the Konoha Shinobi knew better. The Konoha 11 could quite cheerfully rip off any one of their arms and just as cheerfully beat them to death with said arms if they so desired.

The _rookies_ had surpassed their teachers. They were more powerful than the generation before them and as such had earned their place. They worked harder than any of the other Shinobi and trained harder. They were the perfect representation of the families they came from and held both their family name and the name of Konoha on their shoulders. Should any one of them screw up it reflected badly on both.

Shinobi like Sakura, who did not have a prominent clan, did not do any less. In fact the pink haired kunoichi acted as though she had more to prove just because she was the daughter of civilians.

"This meeting is a meeting of Shinobi. There are no council members here, no civilians. This matter is entirely our own to deal with." Tsunade started. "As you all know, Team 7 had gained a new member and said new member was bought back to the village after a mission unconscious and bound."

Iruka noted the fact that aside from the Shinobi such as Shikaku and Inoichi and so on, the council members were noticeably absent. Even Danzou was not present. He though that Danzou was a Shinobi but apparently Tsunade and Jiraiya did not. Or at least not one trusted enough for this, which was odd but Iruka wasn't about to question it.

"Pardon the interruption Lady Hokage, but was their last mission not one that involved the Akatsuki?" Genma asked, bowing his head slightly in respect.

"Their mission was to rescue the Kazekage and while the mission was a success, and it did in fact involve the Akatsuki, it is not the issue. The issue is the Shinobi you all know as Menma. What you do not know is that Menma was the Kage." Tsunade paused here, waiting to see if there was going to be some sort of reaction.

But these were Shinobi after all. Discipline above all else.

"At the time only Team 7, Konohamaru, the Hokage and myself were aware of this. The purpose of working with the Kage was to impersonate Uzumaki Naruto during the mission to rescue the Kazekage to appease the Akatsuki's growing unease. The leader of the organisation believed that Naruto was still within the Leaf and had planned to attack it. Our desire, or rather the Kage's desire was to dissuade this course of action." Jiraiya continued.

He, Tsunade, Ibiki, Inoichi, Shikaku, Kakashi and Sasuke felt themselves going very red when they actually thought about the ludicrousness of that plan now that they knew all the facts behind it. However Tsunade and Jiraiya weren't dumb enough to give the Shinobi gathered in front of them all the details.

Itachi leaned over to a snickering Menma to ask with a hidden frown. "Did they really fall for that?"

"Jip. Hook line and sinker."

"During the mission to rescue the Kazekage, the Kage committed treason against the Leaf by helping a member of the Akatsuki escape. Attempts to gain information from the Shinobi also failed. He escaped just before informing us that our plan to stop the leader of the Akatsuki failed. The leader was going to attack Konoha and there was nothing we could do to stop him. We began preparations for the attack three days ago." Tsunade's words were crisp and precise. Speaking of one's failures were hard and as the Hokage, a Shinobi of the Leaf's failure was her failure.

Discipline or not, a low murmur buzzed through the ranks of the ninja as worry began to set in. Was there going to be a war?

"Earlier today, during a meeting to discuss strategy and formations, things took an interesting turn . . . to say the least." Tsunade continued, her tone dry and almost dripping with sarcasm. "Uchiha Itachi arrived in the room, offering to help the Leaf. In a space of five minutes, the Uchiha ended the current threat to the Leaf's safety. The reason why, however, is still unknown."

"What?!" Sasuke snapped, interrupting the Hokage. "Why wasn't I told?!"

"Because foolish little brother, I told them not to." Itachi drawled, slowly raising a hand to lower his hood. His usual Akatsuki cloak was absent, something which none of the others who knew who he had been from the beginning had commented on.

Sasuke stared at him for a moment in utter shock before his face twisted in pain and rage. Shikaku had thought ahead though, so before the younger Uchiha could give in to his anger and attack his older brother, the Nara had trapped him in a Shadow possession.

"Why are you helping?! What do you have to gain?" Sasuke demanded since he could do nothing else.

"Feisty isn't he?" Menma quipped from next to Itachi who merely raised a brow.

"My reasons are my own and none of your business." Itachi replied blandly.

"Oh come off it Itachi! We've known for years now that you're still annoyingly loyal to the Leaf." Menma scoffed and just by his tone Itachi knew he was rolling his eyes.

Itachi chose not to comment, remaining silent and expressionless.

"Is he right?" Kakashi asked, his surprise shown in the slight widening of his visible eye.

"Of course I am. Big bad Itachi has been quite obvious about it should one think about it. See he let the nine tailed Jinchuriki escape for one thing. He always has a logical reason not to attack the Leaf. He never speaks against the Leaf. He never gives away anything about village secrets. He always has his Sharingan active so that he can record everything." Menma began, listing things on his fingers. "But the most obvious thing is his life ambition. He _wants_ little Sasuke to kill him. I mean what kind of badass wants to be killed? He's pretty much been sitting around waiting for it."

"That's enough Menma." Itachi said firmly, with a glare directed at the still hooded Shinobi.

"HE'S HERE TOO! Just what the HELL is going on?" Sasuke screamed in frustration. Why was all of this happening? Things were not alright. Things were starting to fall apart, losing their logic. Nothing was as it should be; as he had come to know it to be. Itachi was supposed to be the enemy, not the ally. Menma was supposed to be gone or at least in T&I. None of this was supposed to be happening.

"Just tell them already Itachi. Tell the truth." Menma urged childishly, his voice growing all whiny.

Itachi closed his eyes and turned his face towards the sky.

"What is he talking about Uchiha?" This was from Ibiki, a man who had worked with Itachi in ANBU on a number of occasions, a man who didn't hold Itachi in the highest regard because Ibiki hadn't been able to predict his supposed mental snap.

"I have no idea." Itachi replied, returning his gaze to the Shinobi around him.

Menma huffed before removing his hood more forcibly than needed.

Iruka gasped but managed to keep himself in check. It wouldn't help to go charging towards them and start demanding an explanation.

"Tell me that while looking me in the eye. What really happened the night you killed your clan?!" Menma demanded.

"I killed them, that's that." Itachi narrowed his gaze in warning.

Tsunade signalled to the hidden ANBU to remain at their posts because they were getting restless because of the rising tension. This argument could get answers far faster than any interrogation would. There was something to be said about human emotions; they were a powerful thing.

"Nara has already figured it out you know, and he's factored it into his plans already. He's going to tell Sasuke whether you want him to or not." Menma growled in annoyance. "He's banking on it in fact."

Itachi stared at the huffing boy in front of him. He did not like the implications of that statement but was there anything he could do about it at this point? It was too late to go back now. Konoha would always come first and right now this argument was not serving anyone, it was only wasting time.

So with a sigh Itachi turned his dark gaze towards his younger brother.

"After the Kyuubi attack our clan was regarded with suspicion and fear. We were shoved from the ranks of Shinobi and society, confined to the Konoha Military Police Force, and effectively thrust onto the outskirts of town, watched by ANBU day and night." Itachi began, looking away from Sasuke and towards the darkening sky as he spoke. Staring at Sasuke, seeing the rage he had so carefully grown in the boy, it was harder than what it should be. "Konoha no longer trusted the clan that was more loyal to the village than any other and because of that, our loyalty began to shift from the village to our clan, putting ourselves above all others."

Shikaku's shadow possession was no longer needed as Sasuke was frozen in place, listening with a growing sense of horror as Itachi began his tale. Sasuke knew with every ounce of his being that what Itachi was telling him now, this was the absolute truth.

"Feeling betrayed, and not being acknowledged for their true worth, the Uchiha began to plan a coup d'état. I, as the prodigy of the Uchiha clan, was to play as the spy. It was my sole purpose to rise through the ranks of the Konoha Shinobi and into the ANBU. A feat that had become harder to do since the Kyuubi attack." Itachi's tone was quiet. This was a tale he'd never wanted his little brother to hear. It had been meant to die with him and the elders. No one was supposed to know of the shame of the Uchiha. Shisui's last wish had been for him to protect the village and the Uchiha name. This was destroying it.

"That's why you hated them. That's why you didn't like the clan." Sasuke said suddenly. "They were going to start a civil war."

He was taking it surprisingly well, his understanding of the situation very sharp in Itachi's opinion.

"I, however did not wish to start the coup d'état. My heart belonged to the village before it belonged to my clan and it always will. So I went to the Hokage and began to act as a double agent, spying for both parties. Sandaime wished for a peaceful solution. He wished to resolve matters with the clan but the elders saw differently. When Shisui was killed, it was decided that the Uchiha were to be eliminated. The tension in the clan at the death would've been too high. As it was they had decided to move their plans ahead because of it." Itachi's tone was now flat. He refused to speak the truth of Shisui's death. That was a matter for him and the Hokage exclusively. "So Dazou ordered me to kill my clan. It was my only wish that Sasuke be spared. There after I was to join the Akatsuki as a spy. However after the Sandaime was killed none of my reports got to the Hokage and my role as a spy in the Akatsuki diminished. All I could do from that point on was try to protect the Leaf and Uzumaki from within." Itachi finished quietly.

Sasuke was staring at his brother with wide disbelieving eyes.

As they all watched, the proud Uchiha crumbled in on himself. He fell to his knees as the situation he now found himself in started to sink in, as he started to realise just what this all meant for him and his brother . . . his clan.

"You never . . ." Was all the teen could manage. His heart was in pain, so much pain. Yet he couldn't find it in himself to hate his brother, to hate the Leaf for ordering the death of his clan. There was only a sense of disorientation. What did he do now? Where did he aim his ambitions? Who did he represent? What did he stand for?

"This was something I never wished for you to know, Sasuke." Itachi added even more quietly, so much so that he was almost inaudible.

Sasuke didn't react. His eyes were wide and he was near hyperventilating. Everything he'd stood for, everything that he'd built all his goals around, everything that had ever given him purpose, made him want to succeed . . . it had all been with Itachi in mind. Now all of that was worthless.

"Get a hold of yourself bastard!" Menma snapped, appearing in front of Sasuke and lifting him from the ground with a growl. "You're giving Nara exactly what he wants. He wants this to destroy you! He wants you to fall into a state of despair so great that you'll lose all hope, all desire to ever accomplish anything! It would mean he's won!"

"That's why he complied with my demands." Itachi murmured looking away with a frown.

"Fine then." Sasuke growled himself. "What are you doing here?" He snapped at Menma, glaring at him. Slowly Sasuke's eyes lost their dazed emptiness as anger took over. He needed something to direct it at however and he chose Menma.

Menma's fingers went slack and Sasuke was dropped from his grip. Now it was his eyes that grew distant. "I don't know why I'm here." He muttered stepping away from Sasuke. "I just am ohkay?"

"We'll get to the issue of the Uchiha clan later. Right now, Sasuke, we have bigger things to worry about. Itachi is here to stay. Menma however, is only temporary. He is nothing but a clone but should he dispel he dies." Tsunade interrupted with a twinge of guilt. "And we lose a valuable ally." Tsunade could not allow that guilt to rule her decisions right now because Sasuke needed to be pushed into acting, into something other than wallowing in his own revelations. Because right now, if they left him, gave him time to really think things through, who knew what would become of him and how he would interpret things. Uchiha were notoriously vengeful.

"I resent that." Menma stated drily.

"So let me get this straight. Menma is the Kage but now he's helping us against . . . who exactly?" Asuma asked, his voice conveying his confusion and providing a much needed distraction in the awkward situation it had become.

"The Akatsuki are no longer a threat . . . at least for the moment. Our new problem now becomes the Kage. During the interrogation it was discovered that the Kage had different personalities. Menma is one of them and he just so happens to be the one that's willing to help the Leaf. As far as we know there are four personalities but there are possibly six." Jiraiya explained.

"The reason you are all here was to inform you of recent events. We have explained the events with the Kage, the Akatsuki and Itachi but now it's time to discuss another discovery. Umino, Sasuke, step forward." Tsunade barked in a tone that meant business.

This was it. This was the part where everything was laid down for all too see and Menma had no idea the Hokage, Jiraiya, Iruka and a few others already knew who he really was. He didn't know that everyone was now about to learn his identity. Though Menma may have been the more cheerful of the personalities, he still had his darker moments as well. Itachi had to wonder if this would push him over to the other side, so to speak.

"Sasuke, what do you know of the chunin exams in which the Sandaime was killed?" Tsunade asked, her tone dangerously calm.

Sasuke knew she was referring to the interrogation and what the Kage had said before dispelling. He grit his teeth and looked to the side. His mind and his emotions were still reeling after his brother's revelation but after his own, a lot of other people were going to be sent for a hell of a ride.

"I was not the one who defeated Gaara. Naruto was." Sasuke whispered. "Everyone disregarded the possibility that it had been Naruto and automatically assumed it had been me. My role in this is that I did nothing to correct the misconception."

"Oh no." Iruka turned white as a sheet. His bottom lip quivered slightly as his eyes widened. "Oh no." he repeated slightly louder, but still an agonising sound of self-loathing. "What did I do?" He moaned as he clutched at his hair.

"Umino?" the Hokage questioned, growing uncomfortable with the display in front of her. She didn't know what to do. Sasuke's admittance certainly put a lot of things into perspective. Yet, if possible, it seemed it wasn't the only thing that had happened and more questions were brought to light.

Suddenly Iruka snapped his gaze towards Menma. He crossed the distance between the stunned and more than a little confused Shinobi and himself before anyone realised that he was actually moving. Iruka wrapped his arms around the shocked Shinobi and started to apologise over and over, like a broken record, on the verge of sobbing.

"Wha?" Menma managed to ask, looking to Itachi who ignored it. This was not his area of expertise and personally he thought Menma deserved it.

The gathered Shinobi were now starting to grow uncomfortable as well as confused. Too many things were happening at once and they were starting to become overwhelmed. Yet some people seemed to be completely aware of the situation.

"Did I miss something?" Ino asked with a frown.

In reply Kakashi took out the docket of photographs that Iruka had complied and handed them to Sasuke who was watching the Academy instructor with an increasing eye twitch. Kakashi gave to it Sasuke because the boy needed something to ground him right now. He needed the motivation and this was something to point him in a direction since all his other goals had been stripped away from him. Nara had probably been planning on that.

Sasuke took it and pulled out the photos, going through them aggressively. He barely flicked his gaze over the photo before moving onto the next one, lingering only long enough to register who it was. However as he continued his pace slowed before freezing entirely. His gaze widened and the photos fluttered from his suddenly lax fingers.

No . . . this couldn't be true. This just could not be how it all ended. It just . . . it wasn't . . . NO!

How had he missed this? Why hadn't he seen something that was now so glaringly obvious to him? It just wasn't rational. This wasn't how things were supposed to be. He was supposed to find Naruto, perhaps even have to rescue him from the clutches of the enemy. Not have to fight against him because now he_ was _the enemy!

Another thing that whirled though his mind was a simple word. Why. Why did he leave? Why was he so angry? Why become one of the most well-known missing-nin to ever exist?

. . . Why didn't he ask Sasuke to just tell the truth about Gaara?

Closing his eyes as pain rippled throughout his chest, Sasuke realised that he'd probably have sneered at the blond before walking away, ignoring the request that would have cost Naruto so much to ask even if he would have asked it casually, as though it meant nothing it him. It meant more than what he'd even let on. That was just the way Naruto was.

Where did he go? Why couldn't he find the blond? How had he seen this boy every day for nearly a month and not see the truth about him?

"_Lots of genin go missing. They're just not as noticed since they're genin. There was even a group called the Ninja Dropouts. They were a bunch of ninja that hadn't even graduated. I on the other hand, had no reason to stay. I don't have a family, my team and I didn't get along. My sensei was never around and after the whole Orochimaru incident I left in the confusion. No one even noticed."_

Menma had been trying to tell them the whole time. Even now Naruto was trying to reach out to them, trying to be noticed but they didn't listen, they didn't _see_.

Sasuke's pain was almost unbearable. He wasn't used to dealing with this. He wasn't used to having to sift through so much confusion. His life was usually so simple. Get strong, kill Itachi and find Naruto. Those were his goals. That was what he wanted. He needed to sit down. He needed to get away. He didn't want to be here but at the same time there was _nowhere_ else he'd rather be. Being here, with Menma . . . . . He could finally get some answers.

That moment of pain and panic he'd felt when the Kage had told him that he'd killed Naruto–it was back. He'd actually believed the other Shinobi. For just a moment, for just a mere second, he'd actually allowed himself to ponder the truth in those words, to believe them.

The pain he'd felt had been unexpected and unbearable. He never wanted to experience that ever again. So pain was replaced by a blinding rage, a rage that was aimed at only one thing and one person.

Menma.

He was going to get answers out of the Shinobi, no matter the cost.

"KILLED HIM MY ASS!" Sasuke suddenly screamed before rushing at the stunned clone and punching him straight out of Iruka's tight grasp. It was just too much for the Uchiha in one night, a night that was fast approaching which meant there was still a hell of a lot of it left.

"What the hell is going on?" Sakura screeched, getting just as frustrated only for entirely different reasons and voicing a question that a lot felt should be asked.

Menma had smacked against one of the weird curved pillars on the roof of the tower. He got to his feet, clutching his bleeding nose.

His eyes darkened slightly and Itachi narrowed his gaze as he waited to see how the boy would react. Menma didn't look away from Sasuke. He didn't say anything either. He simply watched.

"Why!?" Sasuke demanded, looking at the other with just as much intensity as he himself was being regarded with, ignoring everyone else. To him, they simply didn't exist right now.

At first there was no reaction. Nothing at all to even indicate that Menma had heard the younger Uchiha or that he even intended to answer. Then he looked away, pain crossing his features – the ones that were visible.

"You're asking the wrong person." Menma replied quietly with a wince. His tone sounded almost like he was forcing himself to speak at all, like he needed to clear his throat but wasn't allowing himself to. He just couldn't give Sasuke the answer he wanted and judging by the range of emotions that had crossed the Uchiha's usually blank features, a non-answer wouldn't go over well with him.

Menma knew that Sasuke deserved more, that all of the Shinobi present deserved more . . . but that just didn't change the fact that he didn't know the truth.

He supposed he should be angry, even disgusted at the fact that his identity had been figured out but he just couldn't find the energy to feel those things. He felt only miserable for the fact that he didn't have the answers they so desperately wanted.

Then he found himself angry . . . at himself. What was it about him that made him so different from the others? Why couldn't he just accept the plan and carry out his part without becoming sympathetic towards the Leaf? But then again, he really didn't think he wanted to just sit back and watch the whole village fall apart all because he'd kicked a few hornets' nests that ought to have been left alone. After all, he remembered why they had started this, he remembered why they had left at all and revenge had never been the plan. It had been determination that had driven him, determination to prove that he was better than Sasuke. Revenge only came later . . . much later.

Then . . . . . What _did_ he want?

"Like hell I am! Now tell me WHY!" Sasuke yelled back, cutting through his thoughts, barely being held back by Kakashi and Iruka.

Menma glanced back at Sasuke, taking in the growing rage, the restraining hands on his upper arm and shoulder. He swept his gaze over to his previous sensei, Kakashi and Iruka, saw that both, not just Iruka, knew as well. The Konoha 11 were just behind the three, looking a little lost and confused, all except Neji, Shikamaru and strangely Hinata, all three of which looked dazed and perhaps a little betrayed. _Was that the expression he'd had on his face when he'd heard Tsunade's words?_ Last, he looked to the Hokage and Jiraiya. A united front in the face of destruction.

. . . . . Acceptance.

It's what he's always wanted. Recognition for his accomplishments. Recognition that he was his own person . . . Acceptance that he was his own person.

So no, he wasn't angry. This, whatever this was, felt right. Like coming home again, even if that home was a little broken, but when had his home ever been completely whole?

"I told you, you're asking the wrong person. I'm not him." Menma was now calm, his tone taking on a soft warmness that was almost compassionate, but it only served to further enrage the young Uchiha. However Sasuke couldn't know that the pity in Menma's tone was directed at his newest revelation, his own inner feelings for the place that would always be home and not the Uchiha.

"Why did you leave?" Sasuke asked, slumping, boneless and limp, into Kakashi's hold. Restraint became support and the silver haired jonin grew uncomfortable but he said nothing.

There was a moment in which Menma didn't reply, he didn't move. When he looked towards Sasuke once again there was a familiar determination burning within familiar blue eyes.

"I promised that I'd help you find him, and I will. I never go back on my word." Menma stated, _Because despite where I come from, I cannot answer your questions and it hurts to see your pain. And like you, I want the answers too._

**Alrighty folks. I've got a question. How do you, as the reader, see this story ending? Or rather how do you, as the reader, want this story to end? The purpose of this question? To see if my result meets your expectations. XD**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry for the wait. Exams I tell ya. Just got one of those things left then I'm freeeeeee Mwhahahaha. **

**All the same, managed to type this up for you guys when I really should have been studying. So thank you to everyone who reads this fic and also thanks you to everyone who reviewed and answered my question. Your expectations are rather interesting. **

**A HUUUUGE thanks to my beta ********Jenny-Cat-Miaow. That girl is legend! **

**********If you have any questions feel free to leave it in a review. **

**********Here's another question for you, is anyone actually interested in a story from Naruto's POV, like from the day he returned to the day he decided to go back to Konoha to enact his plan? Let me know and I'll see what happens. **

* * *

**Chapter 13**

"Alright Sasuke, what the hell is going on, and this time you WILL answer me." Sakura demanded in a tone that made even the Hokage wince.

Sasuke turned his gaze to the pink haired kunoichi and the anger returned to his features. There just didn't seem to be any other response that Sasuke was capable of. Well, anger was better than brooding and plotting revenge.

"Menma is Naruto that's what!" Sasuke snapped, not needing Kakashi's support anymore. He pushed away from the jonin, attempting to hit the clone once again, because honestly, the first one really had made him feel better.

This time Kakashi was jerked forwards by Sasuke's momentum but he managed to stand his ground. He had to. Beating the crap out of the other Shinobi was not going to get them anywhere. Not to mention Menma was _still_ a clone. Even if he did want to see the boy get some sense knocked into him.

"What the hell are you talking about Sasuke?" Sakura asked with a huff.

"He is Naruto! All this time, this entire fucking time, it's been Naruto, messing with us, watching us suffer! When I get my hands on him, I'm going to–" Sasuke raged, still trying to get away from Kakashi.

"You're not going to do anything." Kakashi stated firmly, keeping an almost painful grip on Sasuke, adding chakra to his feet to stick his body to the floor just for good measure.

The realisation of what Sasuke was saying finally seemed to sink in for the Konoha 11. Sakura turned wide green eyes to look at Menma, who was staring at the ground with a small frown. "Is it true?" she whispered, almost hoping it was, but at the same time praying it wasn't.

Menma looked up from the ground, chestnut eyes sweeping over those that had once been comrades to him. He looked away with a wince, turning away from the anger in some, the pain in others, and the disbelief in most. He looked away, gaze landing on an angry Sasuke.

Menma watched the younger Uchiha wearily for a moment before sighing and looking away.

"Incorrect Uchiha. _I've told you, I'm not him_. While it's true that I may originate from the Uzumaki, I am by no means the Uzumaki himself. I was however, created to emulate his more foolish characteristics." He muttered. "The Kage wasn't technically lying when he said he'd killed Naruto. Technically. It's a bit harder to explain then what you'd think."

"So the other personalities did take over?" Inoichi questioned.

Menma considered the Yamanaka for a moment, taking in all the expectant expression around him before shrugging. "Yes and no. I am curious though. Who figured it out first?" Menma replied, his gaze growing inquisitive.

"Umino did." Kakashi responded, one hand gripping Sasuke's wrist and the other clamped down on Iruka's shoulder. Since when did he have to restrain both of them?

"Ah. There always were only three people that could find me, no matter where I hid. Konohamaru, Sarutobi and Iruka." Menma smiled softly, looking to the ground.

"So he's Naruto?" Sakura asked, only now able to find her voice, say what she was thinking, trying to wrap her head around all the revelations of the day.

"No. Naruto is the creator. I am merely his design. It's difficult to explain because the whole thing is based on the sealing arts and since I wasn't designed to be the brains but rather the 'dead last' it makes it hard for me to explain this." Menma frowned, his sentences halting and unsure.

"So where is Naruto?" Itachi asked.

"See now that's an even more complicated concept. Just because I was created by Uzumaki, doesn't mean I know everything. There are some things that I don't know while the others do and some things that I know that they do not." Menma waved a hand in frustration as he tried to get his point across.

"Why don't you just start at the beginning?" Jiraiya asked.

"Beginning? I suppose it starts and ends with Sasuke." Menma frowned, looking at the Uchiha. "I'm not a hundred percent sure on all the details but I guess I know enough for now. You'll need the real Naruto in order to understand it all. But I have to warn you, Naruto is . . . . . well, he's . . . . . kind of, sort of . . ." Menma struggled to find the right word to describe something only he could see and understand apparently.

"Just spit it out already!" Tenten hissed.

"He's batshit crazy ohkay? Which is half the reason he's not in charge any more, as the Yamanaka would put it. Jiraiya was correct in his estimation that there are six personalities. Me, Nara, Kage, Nin, Naruto and the _other_ personality. The other personality is a nightmare. He doesn't care about anything. Think Gaara in the chunin exams and multiply that by a hundred. All he cares about is himself and how it affects him." Menma explained. "He's the one that laughs when it isn't funny and he's the closest one to Naruto. He wasn't created from a jutsu either. He is a true construct of the mind and as such Nin, the Kage, Nara and I do not have the ability to kill him, only to delay and somewhat restrain him. Which circles us back to why Naruto isn't in charge anymore."

"So the personalities, they're a result of a jutsu on _Naruto's_ part?" Kakashi asked, just to clarify. The boy really had not been kidding when he said it was complicated.

"Yes. His mind was not split into the other personas naturally. Except that other personality, he's not really a personality so much as the truest representation of who Naruto really is. It's his inner self, the one he'd hoped to hide from the world." Menma explained sadly.

Itachi frowned. He'd known the personalities for some time now. When had Naruto found this jutsu, built up the skill required to actually perform the technique?

"So what happened? When did this_ jutsu_ take place?." Itachi asked, thinking about how long he'd known Nara.

"And really, you need to start making more sense now." Tsunade grumbled under her breath.

"Just before we went to you." Menma answered, ignoring Tsunade's comment. "When we left the Leaf, we were still as one. We was I and I was we. Now it is 'I' and it is 'they', 'him', 'he'. Singularity in an effort to gain control over_ it_. That other personality. I am a necessity. Naruto realised that being so close to instability of the mind was not a good thing and so he found his solution among the ruins of Uzu. Without a village or a teacher, our goal to prevent Sasuke from achieving his own goals, to grow stronger than him, became an idealistic notion. So we had to find a way around that. Uzumaki, our family name had to mean something. We had to be from somewhere. So on the boarder of the Land of Fire, we decided on finding our origins. It was in that moment just before the decision was made that conflict of mind and heart gave birth to Kage. Nara was born before it was decided to leave the Leaf and I am as I always was. Yet, at that time we were still 'I'. The _other_ personality has always been there, the darker half that was born from the hatred of the village, the despair of a lonely childhood. A mind that was broken slowly and relentlessly due to something that was not our fault." Menma's description made sense in a sickly fascinating way that kept those in hearing distance spellbound. It was stated slowly, giving the Shinobi time to process his words, to understand what he was saying.

"In Uzu we discovered sealing – our heritage. It was through sealing that the vessels were born. A jutsu that promised peace of mind with the completing of one's respective goals while one was in conflict was a jutsu that had previously been regarded by the Shinobi of Uzu as a useless and ridiculous one. It was here that we realised that it was impossible to create a personality. It's literally impossible because everything that makes a person who they are is never even noticed until it's not there anymore. A habit here, a tic there. Small things that just can't be replicated. The Yamanaka would know this. Hence the need to split an already existing personality." Menma paused, shifting from one foot to the other uncomfortably.

"There are still notes in Uzu?" Jiraiya questioned in awe.

"Yes and no. It's obscure texts that make little to no sense mostly, due to the sealing keys having been lost when the village was destroyed. Some things were not sealed however and through those we learnt how to unlock others, but not all." Menma shrugged, the disappointment noticeable in his tone.

"I see. Continue, please." Jiraiya sighed.

"Since a personality could not be created, an existing one had to be sacrificed. The idea was to split the physical body into its different personality traits. While that meant that each personality would be somewhat limited in their capacity to change and would be rather closed minded, it ensured that the task given to that personality would be done so with utter devotion. My task is, or rather the character trait that I represent, is Naruto's undying loyalty for his village. Because of this inability to change, Nin, Kage and Nara will never be loyal to the Leaf. I was their ability to sympathise. Taking me away from them has only strengthened that. If they had 'killed' me, my traits would have been reabsorbed into them." Menma's tone only grew more sombre. "Every time a personality is 'split' from the others something has to be taken away from them as well."

"I have a feeling that we're not going to like where this is going." Tsunade muttered.

"In order to find Naruto we're going to have to bring Nin, the Kage and Nara back to the Leaf. We're then going to have to lure them into a sealing array that will trap them in place long enough to undo the jutsu. Then we will be 'pulled' together again in a sense, and will once again be that who is Uzumaki Naruto. The problem would not be getting this to happen but rather what happens afterwards. The personality that would be in control would be Naruto's darker side; the side that doesn't care for anyone. It's that personality that forced Naruto to split himself. See, if he split his personality into what it is now, then his darker self would just be one among many. He would have less power." Menma elaborated, waving a hand this way and that as he spoke.

"So you're saying that Naruto split his body into the four different personalities? On purpose?" Kakashi asked, his tone flat.

"Not his body, his mind. Naruto's body itself is sealed away. Kage did that. He sealed Naruto away to keep his body safe and so that no one would be able to undo the jutsu. That was why we needed stronger shadow clones and the vessels were created. They require far more chakra but they last as long as any other Shinobi would. It's unnatural to say the least but it was necessary." Menma shook his head in disgust, showing those present that he did not personally agree with the idea.

"Why? Why did Naruto split his mind?" Iruka asked.

"To stop his darker half from destroying the Leaf. Naruto was angry but he wasn't vengeful. Naruto's intentions were never the Leaf's destruction. His darker self on the other hand would destroy the Leaf and more. Everything he did would be on nothing but a whim. When Naruto realised what he was becoming he used a moment of clarity to find and cast a jutsu that would stop his darker self. This is something that the other personalities do not know. Nara believes he is the original and so do Nin and Kage. I don't know why but that is the way Naruto wanted it." Menma continued, a frown on his features.

"Now here's the next question, and perhaps the most important one. Why did Naruto leave?" Itachi asked since everyone else seemed to be too busy trying to keep up with the complexities of the mind Menma was describing to them.

"This is the part even I don't know. Perhaps one of the others know or maybe not but Naruto did impart in us his anger at the Leaf, his betrayal. What Sasuke said however makes sense. Having everyone believe that Naruto didn't defeat Gaara would've been a blow to his emotional state but not enough to cause him to leave. There has to be more to it. Like in Tsunade's office when she announced Sasuke as the number one consideration for the position of the Sixth Hokage I was instantly devastated and Nin took over." Menma was squinting at the sky now and his hand flickered to his pouch, twitching slightly as though wanting something but being denied.

"Alright listen up! If there's anyone here that knows anything about Uzumaki now's the time to speak up! If it comes to light that you knew something and DIDN'T say anything, you're going to find yourself wishing you were a missing-nin in Iwa, is that clear?" Tsunade barked at the Shinobi who were watching and waiting, learning, just as everyone else was. Not all the Shinobi were here, just the jonin and some of the chunin.

Iruka immediately stepped forward. There was no hesitation in the action but his hands were shaking and his features were blank. This wasn't easy for him.

"Well Umino?" Tsunade raised a brow expectantly.

"When Naruto returned from his mission with Jiraiya to find you, he seemed unusually depressed. I thought that taking him to Ichiraku's would help. At the time I believed that Sasuke was the one that had defeated Gaara. I asked him about the mission and what had happened since he usually told me about all of his missions but he hadn't said anything about that particular one thus far." Iruka began, his tone falling into report mode.

"His depression grew and he fell silent. At the time I thought he was just upset about not having been able to defeat Gaara himself. I knew that Naruto and Sasuke had always had a rivalry and I believed that was what was making him so despondent." Iruka stopped here and took a deep shuddery breath and looked down. "I tried to make light of the situation and made a joke about it but considering the facts now, I realise that I only made it worse. I brought up the defeat of Gaara." Iruka had to pause again. He closed his eyes, seeing that day so clearly. After all it had been the last day he'd seen Naruto.

"_Come on Naruto, tell me about that mission eh? I heard you got given an A-rank during the chunin exams. That's pretty impressive." Iruka grinned at the blond but Naruto didn't smile back. _

_Instead he stared at his bowl of ramen, swirling the contents around with his chopsticks in a manner that just wasn't Naruto-like at all. _

"_Naruto?" Iruka asked, his eyes conveying concern for the usually enthusiastic blond. _

_Naruto sighed before lifting the bowl to his mouth and draining the contents. _

_Iruka tried for a grin that didn't feel quite so natural and said "I hear Sasuke defeated Gaara. Quite the hero about it too. Better be careful there hotstuff, he just might beat you to the hat if you catch my meaning. I mean he's smart and he's powerful for his age. The people think he's brilliant. You're going to have to step up your training Naruto. Perhaps a few lessons at the Academy will help you catch up on all those lessons you slept through or skipped out on, ey?" _

_Iruka nudged Naruto gently as he said the statement, meaning it to be nothing but a joke and expecting Naruto to brush it aside and then adamantly proclaim in his usual loud fashion that he was going to be the Hokage no matter what._

_Instead Naruto froze up and looked at Iruka with wide eyes. _

"_I'm going to be Hokage. It's always been MY dream and that bastard isn't going to take that from me too." Naruto hissed in anger with his usually large blue eyes narrowed. _

_He dug in his pocket before violently pulling out some coins and shoving them onto the counter._

_Iruka could only blink in confusion as he watched Naruto stomp away in the direction of his apartment. _

"It took me far too long to realise that something wasn't right. At the time I just figured that he was tired after the trip as he'd barely gotten back. I thought he might have still been upset by Sandaime's death and that returning to the village had reminded him of it." Iruka continued his eyes reflecting his self-hatred.

"Naruto had just gotten back and Sasuke was in that coma because of Itachi. Neither of them were able to dispute the people's, Shinobi and civilian alike, beliefs that Sasuke was the one that had defeated Gaara." Menma murmured, his hand finally dipping into his weapon's pouch and pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

He absently pulled one out and placed it between his lips after yanking down the mask in irritation, before touching the tip with chakra glowing fingertips and inhaling deeply.

"Now that's definitely a trait he did not get from Naruto." Sakura growled while pulling a face.

"Huh? Uh no. This is personalised to me as an individual." Menma replied, pulling out of his thoughts. "None of the others do it and it's a pain to convince them not the throw the packs away when we switch vessels. I think I learnt it from the Sandaime."

"So, Iruka and Sasuke. Anyone else?" Jiraiya interrupted, focusing on getting the conversation back on track.

Menma closed his eyes and rubbed at them wearily, taking another deep drag from the cigarette.

He left the thing dangling there between his lips before clasping his hands together and focusing his chakra.

"I have some memories of Naruto's. Perhaps more eyes on them will help to discover something which I cannot." Menma muttered around the idiotic smoke between his lips.

His hands blurred through the signs before settling on the monkey. A strange haziness disrupted the air around them and Menma lifted a hand to remove the cigarette from between his lips to say, "It's a form of genjutsu so don't go dispelling it. It's easier than normal genjutsu but chakra intensive, making it not the most idyllic method."

Most of their eyes widened when the darkening skies around them turned to a bright sunny mid-morning. While their feet told them they were standing still, their eyes told them they were moving.

"I can't wait for you to meet my team Grandma Tsunade. They're the best! Especially Sakura." A happy voice that could not be seen stated loudly and it was then that most realised that they were looking at the world through Naruto's eyes.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that brat?" Tsunade grumbled before Jiraiya laughed.

"Sixty-three and counting." The white haired sannin announced happily.

The world tilted slightly to involve the two Sannin and Shizune. Even Tonton could be seen, waddling along next to Shizune. A sense of happiness, contentment, filled the atmosphere. Most of the Shinobi couldn't understand how such a powerful sense of satisfaction could come from such a scene but those that had known Naruto understood and cringed.

"Shut it Jiraiya." Tsunade snapped. "You're almost as bad as he is. He's twelve though so at least _he_ has an excuse."

"Hey!" Jiraiya protested with a mock pout, "At least you don't have a nickname like mine. Makes me wonder what he had for Sarutobi-sensei. Wished I could have seen it."

"Oh, Old man Hokage? He was your sensei? Cool! Anyways, Grandma Tsunade, I'm really glad you're coming back to the Leaf. You can heal Sasuke bastard and Kakashi-sensei! Maybe you can even help Bushy Brows too. They say he'll never be a ninja again." Naruto's tone had grown quiet, regretful. "But that's ohkay now! You'll fix everything because you're the best. As soon as we get back to the Leaf we'll head straight to the hospital. It'll be great." Naruto's tone was once again it's enthusiastic self. Many were surprised at the sheer volume of innocence the young boy exuded. He truly believed that Tsunade would fix everything merely by being there.

"Sometimes I think he has no concept of reality." Tsunade muttered under her breath.

The world shifted again before blurring slightly. When it focused again it was to see the walls of Konoha approaching.

"Alright! We're back home! Now everyone can get better and we have the coolest Hokage ever, aside from me of course but you're just keeping the hat clean for me, right Grandma Tsunade? Wouldn't want it to get all dusty or something like that."

"There's just no stopping that kid is there. We've been walking for a week straight! When does he rest?" Tsunade groaned.

"When he's sleeping. He usually takes a while to wake up." Jiraiya offered.

"Usually?" Tsunade asked blandly.

"I guess he's excited to get back home." Jiraiya shrugged.

Naruto's vision swung away from the walls of Konoha to once more include the much grumpier looking sannin. "You bet I am!" They could practically hear the grin in Naruto's tone.

Naruto looked back at the walls just in time to pass through the gates. The blonde's own hand came into view, waving enthusiastically to Kotetsu and Izumo who straightened when seeing Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"You know Pervy Sage I really want to stop at Ichiraku's but we gotta go to the hospital first." Naruto whined, sending an apologetic glance towards the afore mentioned ramen stand. They could all feel the regret and unhappiness in the boy at simply walking past his favourite ramen stand.

"Brat! I just got back. I've been following you for a week straight now and you haven't exactly been going easy you know!" Tsunade barked but there was a hidden smile in her tone.

"Yeah, which means we're almost there now. Just a little further. Besides you're the Hokage, you can handle it." Naruto replied in a cheeky tone that made Jiraiya chuckle.

Naruto's excitement prevented him from taking note of his surroundings. In the memory it was only a dim blurry background. Not much could be made out about it but it didn't appear to matter, not to Menma anyways. Menma was moving his gaze from person to person, not the surroundings. He was watching what they did, listening to what they said.

The images blurred again, refocusing in the Konoha hospital. Tsunade stood over Sasuke, hands glowing green as she healed his mind. There was a sense of anxiety in the air, of happiness and anticipation. There was also a slight sense of guilt.

_That Itachi bastard was after me and Sasuke got hurt. So did Kakashi-sensei . . ._ that thought. They had all heard it as clearly as though it had been spoken but they knew it was a thought because no one in the room reacted to the slightly odd sounding words.

When Sasuke's eyelids fluttered, another person gasped in happiness. Naruto glanced towards them, revealing the person to be Sakura.

"Oh Sasuke! I'm so glad you're awake. I was so worried." Sakura gushed, immediately rushing over to the stunned Uchiha who was sitting up and blinking at the world in a sleepy daze.

"Thank-you Grandma Tsunade." Naruto muttered quietly to himself. He walked closer to Sasuke who was slowly gaining life into his features, eyes beginning to lose their distant and dazed look.

"You shouldn't have run off like that Sasuke. Everyone was really mad. And you didn't even give me a chance to properly thank you." Sakura continued.

Tsunade stepped back and so did Naruto, his emotions beginning to cloud together as Sakura berated the Uchiha, hugging him with tears in her green eyes. Eyes that Naruto had always admired.

"Thank me? For what?" Sasuke asked slowly, his thoughts sluggishly catching up to Sakura's words.

"For saving me of course, from Gaara. Everyone's talking about it! Apparently you were amazing." Sakura answered with a large beaming smile.

"Wait, what?" Naruto asked, confusion lacing his tone and emotions.

"Oh come on Naruto, you were right there. Unless the beating you took from Gaara knocked a few of your brain cells loose. Honestly, sometimes Naruto I wonder how you even remember how to breathe. Sasuke saved me from being crushed by Gaara's sand. He defeated Gaara . . . ." Sakura was rambling now, completely oblivious to the storm of emotions raging within Naruto. Naruto was too shocked to do much. Tsunade just sighed at the triad of things bubbling out of Sakura's mouth, wondering when it would end. "And that Gaara! What the hell was his problem anyway! Talk about a creep. He was such a monster–"

"Shut up!" Naruto suddenly snapped, surprising even himself with the outburst. "Don't you dare talk about Gaara like that." Naruto growled.

A hand on his shoulder made him look away from his shocked teammates and towards the blond Hokage. "How about you take me to your sensei, eh Naruto?" Tsunade asked.

Relief flooded through Naruto and the view bobbed up and down.

"Yeah, sure. He's this way." Naruto stated quickly, leaving the room as well. Strangely though, there wasn't much anticipation on Naruto's part for Kakashi's recovery. Only relief for getting out of Sasuke's room and away from Sakura.

"What the heck was his problem? He's never done that before. Oh well, who cares. I'm just glad you're ohkay Sasuke!" Sakura's voice could be heard even as they walked down the corridor towards Kakashi's room.

The first thing Naruto's gaze zeroed in on was the sheet covering Kakashi's face. The view narrowed slightly, indicating that so had Naruto's eyes. The emotions shifted to contemplation and perhaps a sort of childish glee.

Naruto snuck closer to the bed, Tsunade not paying him any mind as she looked over Kakashi's records. Tsunade tsked before replacing the clipboard and walking over to Kakashi and placing a glowing hand on his forehead. Naruto blinked before slowly raising a hand and moving to grab the sheet. A soft giggle of delight echoed from the memory and Kakashi found himself surprised that Naruto took such innocent amusement from something so trivial. He could tell just by Naruto's emotions that he didn't expect to find anything other than another mask but it was the act of trying that delighted him.

A pale long fingered hand shot up and grabbed Naruto's wrist making the young Shinobi yelp in surprise before bursting out laughing.

"Good to see you awake Kakashi-sensei." Naruto chuckled.

"Naruto, I need you to wait outside please. I have some things I need to discuss with the bigger brat." Tsunade said quietly.

Naruto looked away from Kakashi's single eye that was sparkling with amusement and towards the blond Hokage. "Ohkay!" Kakashi released his wrist and turned his attention to the Hokage as Naruto left the room.

"Oh Naruto! My most youthful comrade! I am glad that I have run into you." A loud booming voice interrupted. Naruto turned to see Gai walking towards him.

"Oh bushier-brow sensei. What's up?" Naruto asked, the wide grin in his tone.

"I just came to thank you. For bringing Tsunade to the village. My student is very precious to me and as such so are his dreams. You have given him the hope of being able to achieve those dreams. My eternal rival is truly lucky to have a student such as you." Gai had toned down his volume and his usual attitude, giving Naruto a soft grateful smile that was really quite remarkable on the green clad ninja.

"Oh, thanks a lot Gai-Sensei." Naruto replied, a warmth spreading into his emotions as he used the older ninja's name rather than his Naruto-given nickname.

"Oh and well done on your fight with my other student, Neji. He's not the easiest of opponents and to be honest I was glad that you'd won that match. Sometimes, some ninja need the pain of defeat to teach them a lesson they would not have learned otherwise. You may not know it Naruto, but you gave Neji something that day, something important so thank you again. I was beginning to get a bit worried about him." Gai admitted looking away slightly, his eyes distant as he thought about the dark path his student had been going down until Naruto literally knocked some sense into him.

"Oh. Well he deserved it." Naruto replied, thinking about Hinata. "I'll knock him around anytime you need me to. You just say the word Bushier-brow sensei and I'll be there." Naruto was giving the thumbs up sign and Gai laughed, his normal behaviour returning to him, the seriousness leaving both Naruto and Gai.

"It was most unfortunate to hear of your defeat at the hands of the Suna-nin. After such youthful behaviour such as that I cannot imagine why you did lose. Next time you and my cute little student Lee will definitely prove to the Shinobi nations that hard work does indeed triumph over genius." Gai beamed, giving one of his characteristic teeth flashing smiles.

Naruto's emotions plummeted but he didn't outwardly react.

"Well it was nice talking to you Bushier-brow-sensei but I got a ramen bowl with my name on it . . ."

The scene blurred, the next couple of things coming in stuttering and jerking. There were some things with Shikamaru and some things with Sasuke and Sakura. The emotions were not consistent and everything was too jumpy to make much sense.

One thing was certain, everything was growing darker, more despondent and angry.

The flickering images settled, clearing up so suddenly it was almost headache inducing.

"Fight me!" Sasuke demanded.

"Why?" Naruto's tone was flat and his emotions chaotic, pain and betrayal were whirling along the surface and disbelief a little deeper in. After that there just wasn't much sense to what Naruto was feeling. Something else had happened, something that had caused this.

"Because we never did get a chance in the chunin exams. I want to see who's stronger." Sasuke snapped.

"But Sasuke." Naruto began, his tone holding a slight hint of sarcasm that none watching ever thought Naruto to be capable of. "How can I hope to compete against you? After all you took down Gaara, someone I was too scared to even stand next to." Naruto's tone was challenging Sasuke. "After all I'm just a scardy-cat right?" The Uchiha froze slightly, before narrowing his eyes at Naruto. Sakura tsked and whacked Naruto upside the head.

"Don't downplay Sasuke's achievements like that." She scolded while Naruto's emotions plummeted further.

The scene dissolved once again before whizzing through a confusing mess of images that made no sense at all. They settled on a scene of darkness, leaves disrupting the view of the ground where a silver haired jonin was standing. They could feel Naruto's anxiety, his worry and his confusion. Below him was a man who acknowledged his presence but not enough to train him like he should. Still . . . . . Naruto forced his chakra back into submission before it could alert the jonin below him. He knew that trying to contain the amount of chakra he had would be ludicrous and unsuccessful so he spread it out and around him, doing it so far and thinly that it appeared to be a part of the natural chakra of all the living things around him.

The others would not find him because they were looking for a large concentration of chakra, not a thinly spread one.

"Naruto, where are you." Kakashi sighed, his head hanging down instead of looking up to the clouds giving Naruto his chance to jump away.

When he was far away enough they heard the blond mutter, "Standard Ninja protocol. Jump on the branches approximately ten metres above the ground. So I should stick to thirty meters. For now that'll be enough but I'll need to renew all my jutsus in another hour or so. Also I need to change my appearance. Blond is just too noticeable. I can't get caught. I need to get stronger. People only acknowledge power."

More blurry images that made even less sense before they focused on a rainy night. There was no indication of where it was or even when it was. It was simply a memory.

A shivering and soaked hand was raised before knocking on a wooden door. The one who opened it a moment later was the red haired Jinchuriki of the sand.

"Uzumaki." It was a statement of fact even though they could tell from the reflection in Gaara's pale eyes that Naruto was in disguise.

"I didn't know where else to go. I heard your team was on a mission in the area." Naruto stuttered in reply. Clearly he'd been in the rain for a while, long enough to lose a fair amount of body heat.

"You've been gone from the Leaf for seven months now." Gaara noted, yet standing back and allowing Naruto entry.

"I had to leave. I had to." Naruto sighed as he walked into the room, warmth rushing over his frozen body. The door was closed and a towel was tossed towards him.

"Were you not the one that said it was your loyalty to you ninja way that made you strong?" Gaara asked, his tone lowering.

"In a nutshell, yes. But then I realised that in order to do what I wanted, in order for them to acknowledge me, I'd have to get strong. I can't do that in the Leaf. Kakashi-sensei is great and all but he focuses on Sasuke. Pervy Sage, uhm, Jiraiya of the Sannin, he taught me some stuff like this cool jutsu that the Fourth Hokage made but . . . with him it always comes at a price. He doesn't really want to train me. He just likes my jutsu and my savings." Naruto muttered, his voice trailing off. "So I left to find something _I'm_ good at, something that Sasuke can't take away from me."

"Why did you come here then?" Gaara was reserving judgement on how he felt about all this until he had all the facts.

"Because, we're the only ones that understand each other, truly understand." Naruto replied quietly.

"So you still believe in what you said to me at those chunin exams?" Gaara asked after a moment of silence.

"Always. I just have to get strong enough to protect those around me. I failed to protect Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-bastard from Itachi. I need to get stronger and I can't do that in the Leaf. People aren't too big on helping the demon get stronger. This is something you would understand. Unlike you however, my house guest doesn't give me any extra talents. You have your sand going for you at least." Naruto replied, grumbling in his usual fashion.

"There is more to this. Something you're not telling me." Gaara replied.

"I'm not ready to, not yet." Naruto whispered.

"You slashed your headband."

"You became a jonin. Congratulations."

"You need my help."

"I think you'd make a nice Kage. A little on the creepy side but a nice one all the same."

"Fine. I'll help you. I won't tell the Leaf about your whereabouts either. But you owe me Uzumaki."

"Deal! Now please tell me you have something to eat around here." Naruto asked in a breathless whine while Gaara's lip twitched upwards ever so slightly.

The image jumped suddenly, replaced by a chair crashing against a wall and splintering into pieces.

"That wasn't necessary." Gaara's voice intoned from somewhere out of view.

"Shut up Gaara!" Naruto screamed before swiping his hands across a table, sending papers and ink pots into the air. The ink spread across the floor, straining it a dark crimson red, an odd colour for ink. The papers fluttered to the floor much more slowly, landing in the ink, the red seeping into the individual pieces.

"I have to get it right!" Naruto growled.

Sand lashed out and slammed the blond to a wall. Gaara approached slowly, his eyes expressionless.

"Act out like that again and I will kill you. You're acting like me and that isn't a compliment."

Naruto's emotions stilled, the anger being replied by shock.

"I'm losing it Gaara. I'm losing control." Naruto muttered brokenly.

"Where's that iron clad determination, Uzumaki?" Gaara asked.

"I'm losing control." Naruto sighed, his eyes sliding closed.

"Of what?" Gaara asked, his tone thoughtful.

"I always thought that what they did to me never mattered, that I could brush off anything that they threw at me, but I was wrong. A part of me, a part that I buried so deeply it hadn't mattered, that part wants to destroy the Leaf for everything they took from me, for everything they did to me. I don't want that. At least I think I don't." Naruto had opened his eyes again.

"Either way Naruto, if you continue acting like you do, I'll be forced to stop you. After all I've been where you're going and I know you won't pull out of it like I did. The road you're falling down . . . you'll fall hard, and you'll fall fast and you won't find your way back again. Not like I did." Gaara replied allowing his sand to recede.

"I – then everything I preached to you would mean nothing . . . if I can't get control of these urges, if I start to truly lose it, you have to kill me. I don't care about what you think. I just need you to promise me that you'll kill me." Naruto's voice was hard, demanding a promise from Gaara that the red-haired Shinobi was hesitant to give. "Please Gaara. I don't want to hurt anyone. All I wanted was for them to see me, and not Sasuke. It's always Sasuke! Just because he's an Uchiha. What about me? Why don't I matter?–" Naruto's voice had grown hard again, growing louder and angrier with every word. But Gaara's sand pinned him to the wall again, knocking the air from his lungs.

"Fine. I'll kill you should it come to that."

The genjutsu faded away, leaving a panting Menma kneeling on the ground. "I can't show you any more, not tonight." He stated before simply going limp and lying down on the ground. "I'm not used to having such little chakra. I'm going to be near useless in a fight. All my jutsu have a high cost." He continued, his tone breathless.

A cloud of sand suddenly billowed up and cushioned the exhausted clone. "I'm glad you have decided to return to the Leaf, Menma." Gaara stated calmly as he walked towards the Hokage.

"Oh, you. I'm not happy with you right now Gaara. You knew where Naruto was this whole time and you said nothing." Tsunade hissed.

"I have my reasons. Naruto would have done the same for me." Gaara replied.

"What is the Kazekage doing out of Suna?" Itachi asked.

"It's a sand clone. He's here to deliver a message." Menma muttered sleepily.

"Yes, Nara was just here and he's furious. I don't know what you did but he's closer to the darker half now. All of them are. He's managed to infect them, like some sort of virus." Gaara sighed.

"That's going to be troublesome." Menma sighed himself. "Alright, here's what's going to happen. Nara is going to get real pissy and you're going to need my help if you want to get out of this with your precious Naruto. Either you can let me help you or you can make things a lot harder for the both of us." Menma's tone had grown hard as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Listen here brat. You're in no position to be making such demands!" Tsunade looked ready to punch him into the next century.

"Neither are you. You have no idea what they're capable of. We learnt from the best. The Akatsuki being only some of our teachers. I can guarantee you that you have no idea what you're dealing with. The only way to beat him is to play him at his own game and who better than me?" Menma countered.

"So what, what the hell do you want?!" Tsunade threw her hands up in air.

"Access to your barrier seal."

"I can't just trust you!"

"What do you have to lose? Either it's me or it's him. Jiraiya can watch my every move if it makes you happy but I refuse to let something like this stop me! I am the physical embodiment of Naruto's love this this village. I will stop at nothing to protect it!" Menma declared with a fierce growl of determination.

"Why?" Itachi suddenly cut in. "Why did the others let you live when you are who you are?"

"You still don't get it. We don't want to destroy the Leaf, at least it's not what I want, but it's the path we're inevitable walking down. We tried to stop it but we only managed to delay it. I should have done something differently but I was a fool. I should have let Gaara kill me rather than give myself the time and the opportunities to grow so strong that no one would be able to stop me." Menma was looking away now, smiling sadly at his own mistakes. "But I will change that. I intend to correct everything! No matter what! I won't quit. Now are you going to help me?!"

"We really don't have a choice." Tsunade sighed. "I just can't believe that Naruto got so strong."

"And why is that so hard to believe? It's exactly that attitude that has created this problem in the first place." Itachi for once was showing an emotion that was truly terrifying on the Uchiha: anger.

Tsunade's eyes widened in disbelief and understanding before they closed in pain.

"Alright. We don't have a lot of time and if this village is going down, we're going down fighting!" Tsunade barked. "Give him what he wants, but know this Menma, first sign of deception and I won't hesitate to personally kill you."

"Hai. Now Ero-Sennin, let's go talk seals."

* * *

**Nara**

"Was it wise to erase some of Menma's memories?" Kage asked with a manic grin as he sharpened a kunai.

"At the time, it was needed. It was to ensure that Menma continued to follow the plan. _He_ was taking over because the truth was giving _him_ an opening through Menma, the part of Naruto that allowed him to be born in the first place. Everything has opposites, just as Naruto loves his village, he simultaneously hates it. That is a fact of life." Nara replied tonelessly, sitting in the centre of the room, eyes closed in thought.

"Then should we not kill Menma?" Nin proposed.

"Not possible. He forms a part of the seal matrix and as such would not be destroyed but reabsorbed. We already know this, why are you questioning it?"

Nin was standing on the ledge of a very sharp drop that very possibly had no end. They'd never looked. His arms were crossed over his chest, wind ruffling his hair as he stared at the lands around him.

"This place, we will have to leave soon, won't we?" Nin replied instead of answering.

"Of course. Another redundant question. Is it your aim, Nin, to replace Menma as the idiot?" Nara asked blandly.

"What will we do after we leave?" Nin asked another question, ignoring Nara's statement.

The sharp scrape of the metal against the sharpening stone seemed to grow louder, filling the air with slow measured scrapes followed by sharp _zings _that rent the air.

"I have already begun to gather our_ friends_." Kage's grin widened. "They're most willing to play with us." The question was answered. They were going to the Leaf.

Nin frowned. This was straying from the plan. But he was the Shinobi part of Naruto, the one that followed orders without question. Kage was the determination to make things happen. Nara, Nara was the brains that most people thought Naruto didn't have. He did. He just liked to use it for other things, like pranks. But no longer. He was a Namikaze and it had to show up somewhere other than his looks.

"I wish to request a mission, to the Leaf." Nin stated, still staring out at the lands around them. "Alone."

"Very well. Just don't get hit by those seals." Nara replied indifferently, causing Nin to deepen his frown. Nara wasn't even questioning his motives, his sudden desire to do something without having been told to do so.

"Akatsuki?" Nin asked, pushing aside his other thoughts.

"No. They will remain on the side lines for now. But should they see a weakness . . ." Nara replied, finally opening his eyes, displaying a blood red. "We on the other hand." Nara grinned, displaying sharp canines. "Will be taking down all those who ever stood in our way."

* * *

**Jiraiya**

The white haired sannin walked through the village with his thoughts focused on things it probably should not have been, not with such a crisis looming over them.

"_. . . Pervy Sage, uhm, Jiraiya of the Sannin, he taught me some stuff like this cool jutsu that the Fourth Hokage made but . . . with him it always comes at a price. He doesn't really want to train me. He just likes my jutsu and my savings." Naruto muttered, his voice trailing off. "So I left to find something I'm good at, something that Sasuke can't take away from me."_

Had that really been the way he'd appeared to Naruto? Was that really the vibes he'd been sending?

Jiraiya couldn't be more disgusted with himself when he realised that yes, that's exactly how he'd appeared. Instead of actually appearing to be at the very least, interested in the boy, all he'd done was look as though being around Naruto was nothing but a chore.

If only Minato could see him now. Training Naruto should have been something he had no choice in. He was the boy's Godfather for Kami's sake.

. . . but a twisting pain in his chest that was quickly growing to agonising proportions reminded him that he'd hardly acted like it at all.

How could he tell the boy he was sorry?

With a sudden jolt, he realised that Naruto had come to him _after _having left the village and once again he'd turned him away. He'd met Naruto in his guise as the Kage but still he'd pushed him away.

Whatever came after this, whatever the other parts of Naruto decided to do . . . Jiraiya couldn't help but feel that he deserved it.

* * *

**Tsunade**

"Milady? Is everything alright?" Shizune asked quietly, her eyebrows pulling together in concern.

Tsunade sighed before letting her head fall into her hands. "No Shizune, it's not. Why does it feel like I'm missing something, why do I feel like it's all my fault?" Tsunade asked, voice muffled by her palms.

"Well Milady, right now I guess we just have to pick ourselves up and stand as a united front. This isn't going to be easy and we may lose a lot of precious people, we may never get Naruto back, but now's the time to put the Leaf first. After all, you are the Hokage." Shizune offered, trying to sound firm and sure for the blond who was ultimately falling apart.

"I don't need this. This is not what I wanted." Tsunade whispered weakly.

"You are the strength of this village, Milady. You need to stand tall and stand proud or else everything is lost before it's already begun." Shizune shook her head, her words far more confident than what she was feeling.

"She's right, Tsunade. Now's not the time to break."

"Shut up Jiraiya. If you weren't so god damn obsessed with those _girls_ and your _research_ then perhaps Naruto wouldn't have felt like you didn't want him around!" Tsunade didn't really blame Jiraiya but emotions were running high, running deep, and the reaction wasn't always what was meant to be said or done.

Immediately after saying it Tsunade wished she hadn't. She placed her hands on her mouth with wide eyes, as though trying to stop something that had already been said. "Jiraiya . . . I didn't–" She began, intending to apologise.

"Don't, Tsunade. I understand. It's also the truth so don't apologise. There's not much that can be done about it now though so the next best thing is to plough on forwards. We have a lot of innocent people to protect so it's time to suck it up and wallow in our mistakes later." Jiraiya had held up a hand to stop the blond Hokage from talking. His gaze was hard, demanding, determined . . . but even behind all that there was pain. A pain that no one could ever understand.

Tsunade's fists tightened and she nodded before looking away, away from those all seeing eyes she'd known since childhood, away from those eyes that looked older than their age, eyes that held the pain of a thousand failures, blaming their owner for every single one, eyes that reminded her too much of her own short comings in life.

"I just wish I'd seen it sooner." Tsunade whispered.

* * *

**Team 7**

"Sasuke, if you break one more tree, we'll be able to build a new village." Kakashi commented drily and suddenly found himself on the receiving end of one of the blows that had previously been aimed at a tree.

Dodging easily enough Kakashi grabbed Sasuke's wrist and twisted his arm behind him.

"Enough Sasuke! You'll need your strength for the coming battle." Kakashi stated dangerously, a warning. He didn't mind sitting with his students most days but he refused to be their punching bag.

"Let me go! This is partially your fault too, just as much as it's mine!" Sasuke screamed, struggling against Kakashi's hold, only causing himself more pain.

"It's all of our faults Sasuke. He left because he believed that no one wanted him around, no one wanted to teach him. We didn't exactly helped matters." Sakura snapped suddenly, stepping right in front of the Uchiha.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked with narrowed eyes.

"Don't you get it? Every time Naruto was around, what did I yell at him, what did I always do? Every time he tried to show you something what did you do? Where was Kakashi sensei when he wasn't explicitly needed? What did Naruto do outside of missions? What did he like to do outside of eating ramen? Who were his precious people aside from us and Iruka-sensei? You can't tell me can you?" Sakura demanded, poking the Uchiha in the chest.

Sasuke looked away with a scowl and relaxed his body enough to let Kakashi know that he wasn't about to take another swing at him.

The jonin let go and Sasuke rubbed at his shoulder, still silent.

"It's no use blaming yourself for things that have already happened." Itachi stepped into the clearing, taking a look around at the destruction that Sasuke had caused. "What you need to do now is ask yourself how you can fix what has already been done. But you can't be sure your plans will work until you know exactly why they are needed." Itachi turned his gaze to Sasuke. "And in that event you must ask yourself, are you able to do that which might need to be done should Naruto not want to come back?"

Sasuke sneered and looked away. "If you're asking me if I'm willing to kill him then my answer is no! I will find a way to bring him back. The dobe has to have something left in this village, something that he still holds precious." Sasuke was confident that he was right. He was always right, wasn't he?

"Did you bother to research the kind of life Naruto had before he left? Did you bother to understand him at all?" Itachi asked quietly.

"Don't patronise me. You don't have the right." Sasuke growled, Sharingan activating. "You may be innocent for what you did to the clan but I'm still a long way off from forgiving you."

"It was never my intention for you to forgive me Sasuke." Itachi countered, waving a hand dismissively. "You're getting off topic here. Naruto is coming back to the Leaf, but will you be ready as he, no doubt, is?"

Sasuke didn't reply, looking away from his older brother's penetrating gaze. His brother understood things in a way that he never would. Itachi was the natural genius he could never be. Did Itachi understand Naruto in the same way he was asking Sasuke to?

"I'll bring him back." Sasuke muttered. "I'll remind him why he stayed for so long."

"You say that now foolish little brother, but I wonder if you'll accomplish it."

"Just whose side are you on?" Sasuke demanded. He noted briefly that Kakashi and Sakura had left, perhaps with some misguided intention of letting him talk to his brother privately.

"Konoha." Itachi answered immediately. "And I've come to realise that we just might have to kill Naruto. All I want to know is if you're prepared to do that?"

"But . . . how will you know that that is your only option? When is too far,_ too far_? Naruto would never have given up. So tell me, Itachi, how will you know that there truly is no hope at all?" Sasuke replied, not condemning his brother, but curious to his reply.

"Hmm, fair enough." Itachi mused with a small, very small, smile. "Here's a question for you. Let's say, hypothetically, that Naruto agrees with you and does indeed return to the village. What then?"

Two very good questions that would only be answered in a single blinding moment of instinct.

"Either way, I won't kill him." Sasuke stated firmly, eyes shining with determination.

"For your sake, and for everyone else's, I hope you don't have to." Itachi sighed.

* * *

**Iruka**

The chunin sensei was very out of sorts, had been for the past week. His students watched him silently, not really sure what to say or do in this situation. They'd seen Iruka-sensei angry, they'd seen him tired, they'd seen him proud and happy . . . but they'd never seen him like this. They didn't even know how to describe _this_, whatever it was.

"Sensei? Is everything alright?" one student asked with a worried frown.

"Don't worry. Iruka-sensei just received some sad news." A familiar voice intoned from the doorway. "As such, Lady Hokage asked me to come teach you guys for now." Shikamaru continued.

"But, shouldn't you be helping the others?" Iruka seemed to have been snapped from his daze with Shikamaru's arrival.

"My father is there. Besides, seals aren't really my thing." Shikamaru shrugged.

Iruka held the other's gaze for a moment, Shikamaru seeing all the pain and guilt within those chestnut coloured eyes. But then the Academy instructor looked away, gaze moving to his last desk drawer instead.

"Alright class, why don't you read chapter 3 and then write a short summary on what you understand." Shikamaru suggested. The poor pre-genin hadn't been given something to do prior to Shikamaru's arrival and were too ecstatic at having something to do to complain about the writing and the reading instead of learning a jutsu.

Shikamaru approached the silent chunin sensei, wondering if there was anything he could've said that would make it better. Probably not.

"If there was anything I'd ever regretted, Shikamaru, it's that day."

"You couldn't have known. None of us did." Shikamaru shook his head slowly, trying to convey reason and logic in his tone.

"But I should've had more faith in him. I should've trusted in his abilities." Iruka admonished himself, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Let's be honest sensei, when was anyone ever expecting Naruto to win in anything?" Shikamaru asked softly.

Iruka's expression grew a little thoughtful before looking to Shikamaru and asking "Where's your genin team?"

"Oh, I sent them to do village chores. Currently, they're washing the Hokage monument." Shikamaru replied, frowning slightly at the sudden change in topic.

Iruka nodded absently and Shikamaru sighed. He didn't really know how to handle the other Shinobi but he had to try.

"Sensei, we're going to get him back. Everyone is working on it right now. Menma is working on seals to negate the ones Kage used to lock the real Naruto away. My dad is working on a way to reverse the jutsu, Menma of course, is helping with that one. Itachi is giving Intelligence everything he knows about the Akatsuki. All the ninja are being recalled to the village in preparation. We're going to be ready for this." Shikamaru explained, trying to sound as confident as he could. "We will find him and bring him home."

Iruka looked at him, his expression seemed torn between disbelief and gratitude. "Thank you Shikamaru, for trying. It means a lot to me." He smiled, a genuine warm, watery eyed smile. "I can't wait to tell him how sorry I am."

* * *

**Kakashi**

Kakashi had left his team some time ago. It had been a while since he'd been allowed to have a moment to himself and he felt that now was a really good time to have it.

He'd stayed with Sakura and Sasuke, made sure they were alright, well as alright as could be expected.

Sasuke was angry, almost livid, but he was hurting. They were all hurting. They didn't know how to react to what they had learnt and Kakashi had the feeling that it was only going to get so much worse.

Sakura, well she was still in shock but Kakashi cringed when he thought about what would happen when she came out of that shocked state.

Sitting down and leaning his back against the cool stone of the memorial, Kakashi sighed deeply and looked to the sky. Of all the things he'd ever done in his life, this had to be the worse.

"_Oh Sensei, if only you could be here right now. Heh, Obito, you'd probably tell me I'm just the same old stuck up jerk I've always been. Rin . . . I wonder what you'd say. I still don't get what you ever saw in me._"

Kakashi closed his visible eye, trying to imagine what his life would be like now if Naruto had stayed. Already, scores of situations presented themselves to the silver haired jonin. There would've been another Chunin exam attempt perhaps, or even another Akatsuki run in.

Jiraiya might have been able to take the blond on that training trip they'd been discussing just days before Naruto had left. Naruto would have come back, stronger and louder than ever.

His exclamations for becoming the Hokage would actually get noticed and people would start to respect his achievements, not brush them off as Sasuke's genius.

Naruto would perhaps get over his deluded crush on Sakura, and the team would have the best dynamic in the entire village. People would see them at Ichiraku Ramen, wondering just how a monumental screw up like Hatake Kakashi could ever produce such a spectacular team.

. . . and the saddest part of it all: They'd had that potential. All three of his mismatched little genin had had the potential to be great, greater so when they worked together.

He hadn't been the greatest of teachers and he often wondered why the Sandaime had felt he needed to be one in the first place. Now he realised that he'd been worse of one than he'd ever thought. Jonin still looked down on him for losing the village's Jinchuriki.

The snap of a twig ripped the thoughts of what could have been from Kakashi's mind but he didn't open his eye.

"Kakashi." The manner and tone belonging only to one person.

"Sasuke."

The other jonin walked towards him, having snapped the twig to be polite. He sat down next to Kakashi, remaining silent for a moment, not immediately stating his reasons for coming.

Kakashi could sense that Sasuke's chakra had at least calmed down, no longer the raging storm from earlier. That was good, at least he was here with a level head.

"Why did you focus so much attention on me, when we were genin?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

Kakashi snorted. He couldn't stop it and it just came out, not impressing the Uchiha in the slightest.

"Sorry. It's just ironically enough, at the time I believed that you had the greatest potential for leaving the village and I thought that by giving you a more personal approach, then you'd stay. This was only strengthened after the Forest of Death incident with Orochimaru. You also had Gaara as an opponent, an unstable Jinchuriki and that required me to pay my fullest attention to you. Never in a million years did I think that Naruto would be the one to leave." Kakashi explained. "Naruto was to be trained by Jiraiya. That had been our agreement and I never had gotten the chance to tell Naruto. How were we to know that Jiraiya's usual antics would only serve to further drive Naruto away?"

"You believed I had the greatest flight risk?" Sasuke repeated, not really in disbelief but more like he was asking for further explanation.

"Let's face it Sasuke, you were broody and impatient to see progress. You were already exceptional for your age but for you, it was never enough. If Naruto's departure hadn't scared the daylights out of you, you'd probably have gone to Orochimaru. I had been practising a speech specifically designed to sway you towards staying in the village for just that little bit longer just before Naruto left in fact." Kakashi finally opened his eye to level Sasuke with a serious gaze.

"I suppose so." Sasuke mumbled in agreement. Kakashi turned his gaze to the sky, watching the lone cloud drift by.

The two were silent for a moment but then Kakashi broke it by saying "It's amazing just what one's perspective looks like with hindsight, neh?"

"Is this what it's like for you all the time?" Sasuke asked, his eyebrows furrowing together in puzzlement.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kakashi replied turning to face the Uchiha.

"Well, you're here a lot and with your team and stuff, is this what it's like for you?" Sasuke didn't want to go into too much detail. He knew that Kakashi's team was still a sore topic.

"Yeah, I guess so." Kakashi shrugged.

Sasuke didn't reply but looked to the lone cloud again. They sat there, not saying a word, thinking of how things could have been had Naruto never left.

* * *

**Menma**

He wanted to rip his hair out!

This was taking too damn long.

With a growl of frustration he tossed the useless seal attempt across the room, adding to a quickly growing pile.

"Why don't you take a walk?"

Menma looked up to see Itachi, hand poised over a set of strategies with a ink brush, eyes tired but steady and trained on the clone that was currently muttering under his breath to himself as he only further mussed his hair by running a hand through it.

"Yeah but I just don't like wasting time." Menma replied with a huff.

"Those will still be here when you return. Take half an hour. Your current mind set isn't helpful." Itachi replied dismissively.

Menma was actually quite amazed at how easily and quickly Itachi had been reabsorbed into the chain of command. Perhaps people recognised danger when they saw it and were realising that Itachi in comparison to what was coming, wasn't so bad after all. He still had the slashed headband though.

Menma rubbed at his eyes before he stood, people scooting out of his way as he walked to the door. It was a crowded room and he was sure more than a few of his scrapped and tossed seal attempts had smacked someone on the head. But no one said anything so he didn't apologise.

Whatever Naruto was, it had never been courteous.

Most of Menma's frustrations came from not having the same level of chakra that he used to have. He wasn't used to the low reserves and as such it made him irritable and grumpy beyond belief. That coupled with his growing frustration with the seals made throwing scrolls around almost mild in comparison to what he really wanted to do.

"Why do you still keep the henge up?"

Menma paused in his otherwise aimless walk to look at the person who'd asked.

He shrugged before replying. "Habit. Do you want me to take it off? I figured it would be distracting to those around me."

Sakura shook her head before jumping from the roof top and down to his level.

"Please don't hit me. I just might pop." Menma stated quickly.

Sakura paused with a blink, taking in the pleading expression before looking away with a regret flashing in her eyes.

"No, I was just coming to see how close you were to chakra exhaustion. You mentioned that you don't have as much chakra as before and you probably won't realise just how much you've used already until there's not much left." Sakura explained, returning her gaze to him.

"Oh. Cool." Menma replied with a grin.

Sakura raised a glowing hand, touching it to his chest while Menma giggled with a wiggly complaint of 'That tickles'.

"You're good for now, just don't push it." Sakura diagnosed, lowering her hand.

"If you say so doc." Menma grinned.

An ANBU suddenly dropped down next to them and turned to Sakura. "Lady Hokage wishes to speak with you." Then the ANBU was gone and Sakura sighed. She waved to Menma before taking to the rooftops once again and heading to the Hokage Tower.

Menma watched her leave absently. She'd grown powerful in his absence and he was only sad that he'd missed it. It must have been something to watch her train. However, he doubted he'd have survived many attacks to his person as she was prone to doing at random intervals.

Menma continued his walk, still not really sure where he was going. Things were starting to fall together. He'd already made the changes to the seal barrier around Konoha. His intention was for the barrier to recognise and mark any of the Naruto vessels so that when the time came he could easily summon the three to where he needed them to be in order to reverse the jutsu.

His current seal, and the one that was driving him nuts, was the one that would place Naruto into a state of semi-consciousness so that the Leaf could deal with his darker half. But it was proving more of a challenge than he'd thought. Nara had always been the one to do these sorts of things and as the designated idiot, literally, it was giving him a harder time than what it should have.

Still, he couldn't afford to screw up. Kage had locked Naruto away for two reasons, the first being his darker half. The second was to keep him safe. In the event that the Akatsuki did discover who they were, they wouldn't have access to the real one. That had been the plan.

It had worked too. For a while.

Did Nagato know who they really were? Surely by now he did. What about the other hidden villages?

Menma shook his head, trying to dislodge the thoughts.

Instead he stopped, intending to pull out his pack of cigarettes.

"Thinking unpleasant things Menma?" A voice asked behind him before he could so much as reach into his pouch.

"Nin. What do you want?" Menma greeted with a glare, not turning to face the other.

Nin stepped close and clamped an arm around him. "It hurts doesn't it? Your entire body. You're losing the ability to focus aren't you? Consequences of your actions."

Menma kept his mouth shut. He refused to give Nin the satisfaction of knowing he was right, but it was a useless action. Nin already knew he was right. "These vessels aren't designed to last." Nin whispered in his ear. "They're just not natural. Slowly, painfully, you'll fall apart and there's nothing you can do to stop it unless you move to another body and the moment you do that, we have you."

Nin spun him around as though he were nothing more than a puppet and slammed him against a tree. Somehow Menma had wandered into the forests surrounding most of the training areas. This wasn't good. Did ANBU trail him? They should.

The shirt he was wearing was yanked up just as chakra bound his hands behind him. He was stuck here, at the mercy of Nin. What was he doing here anyway? Nin never acted unless ordered to. This wasn't something Nara would do so Nin was acting alone. Why?

"It's pretty." Nin muttered bending down and studying the seal that decorated Menma's chest, the one that kept him locked in the current vessel.

Menma struggled against the bonds, trying not to cause himself any more pain than what he was currently in. Nin had been right on that account. He was in pain, a lot of it and it was all because his body was slowly falling apart, breaking down on a molecular level.

Menma's struggles and squirming stopped when Nin leaned forward suddenly and licked the seal. The hot wet contact sent a bolt of pain through his body and Menma jerked involuntarily.

"What the hell?!" Menma demanded, glaring at the other.

"It reacts to the Kyuubi's chakra. I bet if I fed some of it right through there," Nin paused to place a finger on the seal, an explosion of heat following and then there was pain, more pain than what he'd known possible. This wasn't like sensing emotions, because that pain was on an emotional level. This was physical. Still, both were just as bad as the other. "Ah, see it does cause more pain."

"No shit." Menma growled out, trying to block the aching from his mind. _Pain was just a perception of the mind, pain was just a perception of the mind . . . _"What do you want Nin?" he tried asking.

"Oh nothing much. Just thought I'd come see you." Nin shrugged. "Surprisingly enough I miss you. Now it's no one but Kage and Nara. Nara doesn't talk much, and Kage drives me even more nuts than he did when you were around." Nin removed the finger that had been steadily releasing the Kyuubi's chakra into his body. It stayed in his chakra coils, flowing through them since it didn't really have anywhere else to go. He wasn't entirely sure if it actually made him feel better or worse.

"That's it? You're bored?" Menma asked incredulously, deciding to push past the pain in his body. It was only going to get worse as time passed anyway.

"No, observing. Those in the Leaf look ready for war." Nin shrugged.

"Well let's not kid ourselves. There is a battle coming, it'll just all come down to who's better prepared." Menma snorted, trying to steady his heart rate. "So tell me Nin, just how prepared are you?" Menma asked, raising a brow challengingly.

"We shall see. For now, I also came with another purpose in mind." Nin shrugged before pulling a small scroll from his pouch. He unrolled it, summoning the chakra blade sealed within it. The bluish silver metal began to glow slightly as Nin charged it with wind chakra.

He smirked at Menma before he raised the blade and casually plunged it into his torso. He then let go of the handle, leaving the blade where it was. The chakra binding Menma's wrists dissolved, causing the clone to slump forwards.

But he could not fall to the ground. He couldn't breathe. The pain wasn't quite there yet, the action having been done so fast and clean that the pain would only come later. For now, there was merely shock.

It had been thrust so deeply that the end of the blade was now imbedded in the tree, forcing Menma to stay on his feet if he didn't want to further aggravate the wound. As it was, blood seeped down his stomach, sinking into the dark material of his pants.

"See you around Menma." Nin whispered in his ear before disappearing.

Why weren't there guards watching him?

Menma gasped and forced back a shudder, knowing that it would only hurt more. He had to move. He had to get help. Could he even be healed like this?

Clone?

It would be easier than trying to dislodge himself from the tree. Nin, the bastard, hadn't hit anything vital, but in his attempt to get help, he just might damage something he'd rather leave exactly as it was.

In the end, the pain finally caught up with the action of having a chakra blade shoved through one's body and Menma blinked rapidly before promptly passing out.

An ANBU managed to catch his shoulders before he could put all his weight on the sword impaling him to the tree and thereby killing him. The area had, up till mere seconds prior, been shrouded in a genjutsu seal. They hadn't seen what had happened, only what was left.

Man, his superiors were going to ream him for this one.

The ANBU made a single clone, sending it to the Hokage Tower while he supported the boy's weight. It was all he could do for now. He really didn't want to attempt moving the boy and ending up 'killing' him. That would really go over well with the Hokage.

What the ANBU did not expect was for Tsunade herself to show up. He's been sort of counting on a medical team or something.

"Report." Tsunade asked crisply, moving this way and that so that she could see the damage done to the clone he was currently supporting.

"Squad A following target as ordered. Target appeared to be fine until what is believed to be a type of genjutsu was lifted and the target was found like this." The ABNU stated monotonously.

"Sakura, we're going to have to heal him as we remove the blade." Tsunade stated with a narrowed thoughtful gaze after nodding to the ANBU.

"Why didn't they kill him?" Sakura asked, moving forwards.

"I don't know. We can ask him when he wakes up. See, his wrists have forming bruises, so they had him at a vulnerable position. They could've killed him." Tsunade muttered, placing glowing hands on the clone. "No matter, for now you need to focus."

"Yes, Milady." Sakura nodded curtly, moving around the tree and placing glowing hands on Menma's back.

The ANBU knew better than to believe that Sakura's calm and logical approach to this situation was how she was truly feeling. He didn't miss the widening of her pupils, the slightest of trembles in her hands. She was just as terrified of dispelling the clone as he was.

* * *

Menma gasped and jerked before groaning in pain.

"Easy there, you're still recovering." An irritated voice snapped.

"Sorry, reflex. Where's the sword?" Menma answered immediately.

"Why?" Sakura asked with narrowed eyes.

"It's not just a toy. Not all the vessels have one and by leaving it here Nin gave me something rather valuable. Why though, is still a mystery to me." Menma explained impatiently. "It also has chakra stored into it, Kyuubi's chakra. I'll heal faster. I don't have time to be lying around."

Sakura watched him for a moment, taking in his words before sighing and leaving the room, perhaps to go talk to Tsunade.

Menma relaxed back into the pillows but he was still tensed up. His body felt like it was on fire, every nerve ending screaming in a pain that Sakura would never be able to heal. He doubted she'd even noticed it yet.

He took a deep breath to try and relax but his throat rebelled the action and he coughed, placing a hand in front of his mouth as another came. As the coughs racked his body, the pain flared even more, infecting its way up to his mind and intensifying with every cough. When they finally slowed and he pulled his hand away it was covered with a bright crimson.

Closing his eyes, Menma pulled himself from the bed and went to the small basin to wash the evidence away. It was all he needed for Sakura to see that. She's waste time and chakra trying to fix whatever it was that was wrong with him but she'd be fighting against nature and that simply would not lose to a human.

"Can I come in?"

Menma turned to see Jiraiya sitting just outside the window. He shrugged, letting the sannin know it wasn't any trouble.

"You know, I never thought that my actions would come across as they did to you." Jiraiya started, his voice soft and regretful. Menma smiled sadly. "It is not me you should be speaking to, Pervy Sage."

"Close enough brat. You're still him, even if only a part of him." Jiraiya replied.

Menma closed the tap and moved to dry his hands, ignoring the pain that the action of merely moving caused him.

"Whether those were your intentions or not, Jiraiya, that is how they seemed at the time." Menma sighed. "I may not remember everything, but I do remember Naruto's irritation at trying to convince you that he was worth your time, his frustration at being left on his own for hours at a time when all he wanted was for you to simply be there, even if it was only to watch his progress." Menma paused and let go of the towel. "I also remember his joy at having you around when you were. Like the ice-cream you shared with him."

Jiraiya looked away with a heavy sigh. "I was always the one who was to train him." He muttered.

"Well, you should've been a bit clearer about it then, shouldn't you. But it's too late now. Why do you and the others persist in living in the past? It's time to look forwards to what's coming. We don't have the luxury of having group discussions. As it is, Nin has already proven that he is able to get through the barrier undetected. He's already proven that I am no match for him." Menma shook his head angrily. "Personally I wish all of you would stop giving me these looks of remorse, would stop trying to apologise to me. It really doesn't make a difference to me. I'm not Naruto. And honestly, do you really think an apology would work?"

"So that's what that was all about? He was proving a point." Tsunade interrupted, walking further into the room from where she had paused by the doorway.

"Actually, I'm not sure what he was trying to achieve. He left the sword when I would not have. I don't understand Nin's actions but then, I've never been able to understand Nin himself. He's always been the most obscure of the personas." Menma explained, standing still while Tsunade checked him over.

She muttered something under her breath before gesturing to Sakura to hand over the blade that she had been holding on to.

Menma took it, holding it between both hands before focusing his chakra. Blue chakra raced from between Menma's palms and across the blade, before snapping into the air and dissolving in a shower of sparks.

They waited, wondering what would happen next. For a heartbeat of time, nothing moved, nothing made a sound and then that silence was broken by a sharp gasp from Menma as red chakra began to rise from the blade as though being evaporated.

It seemed to be flowing straight for Menma who grit his teeth against the burning sensation the Kyuubi's chakra caused.

When the clone let go of the sword it clattered to the floor, the sound loud and obnoxious in the all too silent room. Sakura frowned at the burnt and blistered skin now covering Menma's hands.

"I thought it was supposed to heal you?" She accused.

"Just watch." Menma muttered distantly.

So she did. To her amazement, the skin began to smooth over, lightening from the raw agitated red to the smooth tan of Menma's normal skin tone. A tiny wisp of red was all the indication they got as to what the cause of Menma's healing was.

"Now that is creepy. How can something be both so destructive yet so restorative at the same time?" Sakura breathed as she grasped Menma's hands between her own, studying the now unblemished skin.

_Too bad the chakra only lasted so long._

Menma shrugged before picking up the sword and testing its weight. "Come on, let me show you why I like this sword so much." He grinned at the occupants of the room before moving towards the window. "So much to do and so little time to do it in!"

"Wait! I haven't even checked to see if you're alright to leave." Tsunade sighed in exasperation.

"You're kidding right?" Menma chuckled.

Tsunade studied him for a moment before huffing and waving a hand dismissively. Menma's chuckle changed to an amused laugh before he hopped from the window, intent on showing the sannin and his teammate just what a master with a chakra blade could do. Honestly, Konohamaru just really did not know how to use that sword he'd been given.

A part of him knew he should be developing that seal but another part of him felt as though he would never accomplish it. It just wasn't in his skill set.

So he'd have to do the next best thing, prepare the Leaf for what was coming . . . Unless, on the very slim chance, he could stop all fighting before it even really began. But that was a very slim window of opportunity and it was by no means a guaranteed one.

"Hey, Sakura, you should go find Broody 1 and Broody 2. They could learn something from this." Menma informed the following kunoichi. "I'll meet you guys in training ground seven."

Sakura nodded and disappeared. Jiraiya muttered something about getting Shikaku, Inoichi and Ibiki before disappearing as well. Those three were in charge of strategy and intelligence. They'd need to see this as well.

Menma dropped from the rooftops the moment both Jiraiya and Sakura were out of sight and clutched at his chest. His breaths were already short sharp gasps of pain. This wasn't good. His body was disintegrating and soon he'd fall apart. How much longer did he have?

What did that mean for the Leaf if he wasn't here? What did that mean for the seal and for Naruto?

He hoped he didn't have to find out. He only had one shot at this, one shot to get it right. He couldn't afford to fall apart.


	14. Chapter 14

**Thanks for all the reviews, the favorites and the follows. XD**

**A huuuuge thanks to be my beta Jenny-Cat-Miaow. That girl is awesome!**

**For all of those readers that hated the fact that they knew nothing, this chapter is mostly about explanation and NARUTO. So I hope it was worth the wait. **

**I shall apologise in advance for the lack of and the poor fighting scenes. I cannot, absolutely cannot, trust me on this one, write a semi-descent fighting scene. **

* * *

**Chapter 14 **

"Ohkaaaaaay. The first thing you've got to know is that this blade isn't bound to a single form. It can be any length or any shape." Menma informed the gathered party, "Watch." He almost muttered, sounding distant as he channelled chakra into the blade and watched the bluish coloured metal ripple before changing into something that resembled a broadsword.

"Its form doesn't change the density of the metal. It has the required density for any form that it takes so don't be fooled by the misconception of a larger size meaning a weaker sword." Menma continued, continuously changing the shape and size of the sword in his hand.

"How do the others fight with the sword? What style do they use?" Shikaku asked.

"I don't know what it's called. I wasn't really paying attention when I was learning it. I was just learning the katas." Menma shrugged. "I can demonstrate with a spar if that would help?" he suggested.

Shikaku gestured to one of the ANBU who nodded and stepped forward, pulling out a scroll and unrolling it. They swiped chakra across on of the seal and picked up the weapon that was summoned. The ANBU then approached Menma, getting into a standard kenjutsu stance.

Menma's sword changed to a standard katana and he held it loosely at his side, almost as though he was waiting. The ANBU tilted their head before giving the ANBU equivalent of a shrug and rushing at the clone, attacking while Menma went on the defence.

Itachi, Sasuke and Kakashi watched with their Sharingan, recording the clone's movements and trying to find a pattern to them. If they could figure out the pattern they could come up with a counter for it.

"Switch to attack, Menma." Kakashi ordered after ten minutes and the tone of the entire spar changed dramatically. The sword in itself was something that very nearly confused the Sharingan, changing continuously so that it was the correct angle or the correct shape or even size to suit Menma's purposes. He didn't even seem at all concerned with the changes in weight or capabilities, as though he was used to this versatile weapon.

The blade also proved to be resilient enough to withstand any sort of counter measure. It was also strong enough to completely cleave the ANBU's sword in half.

Sasuke frowned at that since he liked his sword in one piece and it had taken him quite some time to actually find a sword he really liked.

Nonetheless, the majority of that day was spent studying and dissecting Menma's fighting style so that they could come up with the perfect counter strategy for the others. Apparently, they all had their own unique strengths and weaknesses. Kage was a silent, kill you in your sleep kind of assassin. Nin was the taijutsu and kenjutsu specialist. Nara relied heavily on seals. Menma was mostly all about ninjutsu.

"Hey, Kakashi, want to see what I did with the Rasengan?" Menma asked suddenly, stopping in the middle of his taijutsu spar to grin at the Jonin.

"No. I think I got the idea with that little fire and wind style collaboration jutsu you did a little while ago." Kakashi replied, still watching intently with the Sharingan.

"Aww." Menma pouted. His distraction from the spar cost him as the ANBU decided to remind him just what he was doing there and kicked the clone across the training ground with a solid blow to his chest.

Menma didn't get up right away, gasping for air where he landed instead. "Holy shit. I did not see that one coming . . ." Menma spluttered, still trying to catch his breath.

Kakashi frowned. Menma's capabilities thus far showed that he should have at least been able to detect the blow and dodge it. Itachi however, wasn't too concerned with what Menma should have been able to do and was more concerned with what he should be doing in that moment.

Which wasn't coughing up mouthfuls of blood.

Menma tried to get up but the constant use of chakra during the spars he'd had with the various ANBU was starting to take its toll on his borrowed body, letting him know in the most painful of ways just how unhappy it was with him.

"What the hell?" Sasuke demanded, glaring at the clone still coughing on the ground. He wasn't telling them everything if this is how he was responding to a spar. And to be truthful, not that Sasuke would admit this out loud, the sight was freaking him out.

"Without the constant flow of the Kyuubi's chakra, that which was never supposed to exist, doesn't." Menma explained.

"In other words, his body is falling apart." Itachi concluded, Sharingan deactivating. "How much time do you have?"

Menma shrugged. "Never tested it before. But I do know that Nara won't wait for me to die. He'll be here before then. Just to rub it in my face. Besides, I have a plan. A risky one, but a plan nonetheless."

"Well then, we better get back to those plans. From now on you're just going to try and describe anything related to your fighting style." Jiraiya interrupted, moving away from the tree he'd been leaning against. "You still have a seal to finish."

"Truthfully I don't think I can, but I think I will be able to make a barrier, perhaps one that is strong enough to contain him, at least for a little while." Menma admitted softly.

"No worries kid, just do what you can." Jiraiya shrugged before grabbing the back of Menma's shirt and dragging him from the training ground while the clone shouted indignantly at being so poorly handled. "I'm not a child Pervy Sage, put me down!"

* * *

**Nara**

"Are they here?"

"Yes." Kage answered, strapping his kunai pouch in place and straightening his wrappings.

"Then I suppose I should go out and tell them the plan." Nara sighed before standing and stretching his limbs.

"What more is there to say other than 'we're attacking the Leaf, try not to die.'?" Nin asked blandly, not moving from his spot against the wall. His arms were folded over his chest, eyes closed in the slightest of irritations.

"Well, plan of action, obviously, and whether or not people need to die." Nara answered impatiently.

"I didn't think casualties were really on your list of concerns." Kage chuckled.

"I might be heartless, but I'm not without mercy. After all, what kind of a world would we have if everyone kept trying to kill us?" Nara shrugged, his question not really needing an answer.

"An empty one, because I'd kill all those that tried to kill me." Nin answered anyway.

"I was going for 'a boring one', since it would start to get predictable." Kage pouted.

"Either way, killing the members of the Leaf won't be necessary for us to accomplish. The other Hidden Villages just might do that for us." Nara clarified.

"So why do we bother attacking?" Nin asked.

"Menma." Kage replied, walking to where the Shinobi had gathered. "We attack in three days. So let's try not to sweat the small stuff."

Nin and Nara followed him, mentally preparing themselves for the battle that was to come. The Leaf hadn't grown soft in his absence; Tsunade and Jiraiya had trained his old teammates well. They were going to need to be vigilant.

* * *

**Leaf**

The hawk's cry echoed around the deserted village, not a single person visible to hear the call.

But in the shadows, the Shinobi began to shift.

Silent, barely seen signals were passed around the village as the hawk cried once more.

So it had begun.

Menma moved first, giving the signal to the others to wait. In the three days since Nin had visited, his health had only deteriorated even more. As it was he was pale and breathing heavily from any movement he made, but he'd left his condition, not enacting his initial plan, this long on purpose. Nara would laugh at his weakness and underestimate his strength.

He could sense them, passing through the barrier. By now they were perhaps growing suspicious as to why no one was coming to apprehend them. Signals flared to life in Menma's mind, three in total. So the others had been marked. He had them now. All that was left was drawing them to where the other seals were, and reversing the jutsu.

Menma walked towards the gates of Konoha, seeing the others shifting within the shadows. Closing his eyes, he could tell that Nara had brought others with him. Probably all those from the chunin exams, and all the ones that owed him favours, like the pathetic sobs that Orochimaru had experimented on. Those guys almost always ended up dead so saving one ensured you had a Shinobi in your debt for life.

Menma watched the Shinobi approach, not at all concerned about detection. Was Nara that arrogant? Or just that careless?

"You shouldn't have come here Nara." Menma stated calmly when he saw the other watching him from the shadows of the trees.

"Oh, and what do you plan to do about it?" Nara mocked. "You can barely breathe and you expect me to quiver in fear at after a line like that. It's not even original."

"You've already lost." Menma shrugged, backing away slightly so that he was out of the line of fire. "Just give up. None of the others have to get involved in this."

"Just because they have you helping them out, doesn't mean that I automatically lose." Nara growled. "You don't even know the whole story."

"You're getting a tad bit over zealous these days, don't you think." Menma tilted his head to the side. It was because he could no longer think straight, the darker half of Naruto's persona was slowly worming his way inside, taking over and destroying what was left of them, Nara's intellect suffering heavily for it.

Nara didn't reply, merely gave the signal for the attack to begin. Menma sighed and closed his eyes, not wanting to see the Leaf's retaliation. As it was the sound of the Chidori was loud enough as Kakashi and Sasuke charged the jutsu, touching down onto the chakra wire that was covering the ground.

Screams of pain echoed in the lonely streets of Konoha, the charge of the attack enough to maim, but not kill.

"You shouldn't have closed your eyes." Kage informed him gleefully, from behind, a kunai now at his throat.

"Doesn't make a difference. You won't kill me." Menma was confident in this. Killing him made him a part of them and they didn't want that. At most they were going to capture him and then seal him away.

"Let him go Kage."

"Ah, Itachi-sensei. How nice to see you. You should know, Pein is expecting us back at the hide out, both of us." Kage grinned, only tightening his hold.

"Well then he waits in vain. I'm staying in the Leaf now. It has become clear to me that this position best serves my purposes." Itachi replied, Sharingan activating. "As such, you should let him go. I intend to fight you, with or without Menma standing as a shield."

Kage hissed softly before reluctantly releasing his hold on Menma and drawing his sword. Menma backed away, watching intently as Kage attacked first, Itachi dodging out of the way easily enough. Nara had given Itachi back his health, and in so doing, he'd made a powerful enemy out of one he could have simply dismissed before.

All around the gates of the village little scuffles were breaking out, the Konoha Shinobi outnumbering Nara's little playmates. Still, those playmates weren't a force to be taken lightly. What they lacked in numbers they made up for in raw power. Either way, Nara's playmates were not here to win this fight. They were merely the distraction. Did they know that?

For a distraction they sure fought well. The Leaf were actually having trouble. Kiba was teamed up with his mother, taking down several Shinobi at a time. Sakura was leading the medical troops, healing the Shinobi as they went down and taking down an enemy when they came in range. Man those punches had to hurt. Kakashi and Gai seemed to be having one of their competitions again, collecting a body count that was quickly growing. Neji and Hinata were working side by side, their Byakugan active.

Everywhere he looked he saw his former comrades engaged in battles, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio putting their formations to the test, the Aburame showing the enemy just how much damage bugs could do and even the other Shinobi, the ones he had not known personally, were showing the enemy a thing or two about the Will of Fire. Yet the enemy were just as strong in some cases.

Menma grit his teeth, watching little Konohamaru take on a Shinobi triple his size. He had to forcefully remind himself that it wasn't the size of the Shinobi that counted but rather their skill. He could only hope that the Shinobi Konohamaru was fighting, did not have much of it since he was in no condition to help the Chunin.

Besides he had something else he needed to do.

Menma raced through the village, heading to the Hokage Tower where Jiraiya and Tsunade were waiting for him. He dodged out of the way when stray jutsus flew towards him, struggling to breathe when an arm clamped around his torso.

"I thought I'd help you get there more quickly. I'm not the most patient of people." Sasuke smirked at him. Menma sneered in annoyance but inwardly, he didn't think he'd have actually made it without the Uchiha's help. As it was, this body was falling apart to the extent that focusing chakra was nearly impossible . . . nearly.

Sasuke didn't bother with running through the village and simply used a teleportation jutsu to get them to the top of the Hokage Tower.

"Took you long enough." Jiraiya complained, going through the hand signs needed for summoning before touching a palm to one of the pre-drawn seals on the floor. Menma stepped away from Sasuke and towards the now glowing seal.

Similar to Edo Tensei, a coffin-like box was rising from the centre of the seal, but within this box an inactive vessel resided. Menma unstrapped his sword and handed it to Sasuke, lest it dissolve with the vessel when he transferred over to the new one.

"Now remember, this is all about precise timing. Screw up and we're all doomed to a long drawn out battle with that brat." Tsunade reminded as the lid of the box slid off and clattered to the floor, revealing the lifeless copy of the clone already standing in front of them.

"Sure. I got it." Menma huffed. They'd been over this a thousand times before. He placed a hand on the vessel's chest, closing his eyes as he concentrated on his task.

Menma clenched his jaw before he suddenly swirled away, leaving nothing but a tiny gust of wind behind.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, waiting to see what would happen now, almost too afraid to think that perhaps it hadn't worked. He was tempted to hold his breath but resisted the urge. A heartbeat, then another and Sasuke's mind began to race through all the things that could have gone wrong: Nara had caught Menma and trapped him within their own mindscape; Menma had not been able to transfer to the other vessel and he'd ended up dying anyway.

But then the vessel opened his eyes and he released the breath he'd been holding.

"Hurry up." Sasuke snapped, trying not to sound as relieved as he felt. This was the crucial part.

Menma climbed out of the box and moved towards the other seal, gathering chakra and biting his thumb. Sasuke moved the box out of the way, leaving it in the shadows on the side of the tower roof. It was all they needed for something so mundane to get in their way.

Sasuke watched once again as Menma went through the hand signs for another summoning jutsu, the one that would bring all the vessels here. When Menma slammed his palm to the second pre-drawn seal, it activated two jutsus at the same time. The first was a summoning, the bright flares of chakra announcing the arrival of those that had been marked upon passing underneath the barrier.

The second was to ensure they stayed within the fourth pre-drawn seal, the seal that was to reverse the jutsu.

"Menma! Release me at once!" Nara snapped, trying to move away from the seal array.

The three summoned vessels were standing within the seal as though they were points on a compass with a rather large gap between Nin and Kage suggesting that it was incomplete.

"Funny how you order me around when you're the one trapped in a seal." Menma commented with a shake of his head.

"Gotta admit to that one Nara, he does have a point." Kage chuckled. "And not to mention he's far more resourceful than what we gave him credit for. Once again. Seems your arrogance is getting us in shit."

"Oh well. Too late now, unless you can break this seal." Nin finished, almost sounding bored, like he'd already expected this outcome.

"Menma! You don't know what you're doing." Nara snarled.

"Of course I do." Menma smiled happily, moving to the gap in the seal. "I'm reversing the jutsu and putting Naruto back in control."

He then raised his hands to complete the last set of hand seals, not even needing to bend down to touch the seal array beneath him as he ended on the sign of the ram.

By now, most of the Shinobi had made their way to the Hokage tower, drawn to the mounting chakra and the flaring lights of the activated seals. Both sides stopped fighting, far more interested in what was happening, than in trying to kill an enemy they really had no actual problem with.

"Menma, don't! Stop it right now." Nara yelled desperately, as the seal began to shift and change. He seemed to be watching something behind Menma, eyes almost fearful of what they saw.

Itachi and Sasuke were the ones that noticed it first. Shadows, growing at a swift and nearly alarming rate.

The shadows crawled along the floor like grotesque creatures of darkness, slithering towards the warmth of the chakra in the seal.

Nin was silent, simply standing at his post, not even paying attention to the shadows now licking at his feet.

Kage growled, sending Menma a glare that promised the darkest torments of perdition, yet there was nothing he could do. He too stood as still as a statue, entire body tensed but unable to move as the shadows embraced his body, almost like a lover, beguiling their true intent.

Nara struggled against his seal, violently trying to over throw its hold by pure force alone. But it was useless. He wasn't going to move anywhere and it was already too late.

"You're a fool Menma! You don't understand what you've just done. They'll burn! All of them! He'll kill them all!" Nara screamed, a sound of desperation as he struggled against the shadows. But one couldn't fight something they couldn't touch.

Menma was smiling softly. Yes, they were going to undo the jutsu and everything would be alright again. Naruto would return to the Leaf. He had to after gaining all their memories. He'd see that the Leaf did care, that they were sorry for that they'd done.

The seal brightened and the Shinobi of the Leaf had to look away. Sasuke and Itachi did not. Itachi didn't know what to expect at this point but he knew that something wasn't right . . . Those shadows just weren't right at all.

The next part of the seal activated and a barrier began to form over the four parts of Naruto's personality. No one would be able to get in or out unless that barrier was lowered. This was so that should the darker part of Naruto be in control then he couldn't attack. Not until he found a way to break the barrier and Menma had promised that it would be a while.

Itachi didn't think it was that simple.

Sasuke merely narrowed his eyes when the light brightened even more, so much so that the four figures disappeared and he could no longer make out their forms in the chakra.

This was it, this was where Naruto came home and he could tell the dobe how sorry he was. He could tell Naruto that he was wrong, could finally ask him to come home. Nearly five years. It had certainly been over four and a half. That was long enough. It was time to end this petty squabble.

They weren't children anymore.

Still, Sasuke had been wrong. He should have said something about Gaara. Perhaps if he had then Naruto would never have left. Perhaps if he'd acknowledged the blonde's strength sooner, then things would've have been different. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps . . .

The chakra began to fade, but the barrier remained. The Shinobi of the Leaf held their breath as a single silhouette began to appear.

A dark cloak appeared first, the darkest black in colour, a hood drawn over the head with a large contrasting white swirl embroidered on the back. A bright orange strip ran down that swirl only to end in flames licking the hems of the thick travelling cloak.

Bright orange gloved hands were loose at the sides, fingers lax and slightly curled. As they watched, one of those hands lifted, slowly, excruciatingly slowly, and raised the hood away from the head.

The sleeve of the cloak moved back, revealing pale skin with blood red bandages on the wrists.

Blond, shaggy blond hair and Sasuke's heart was in his throat.

Whisker marks were next, not a single sign of the burn scar that had marred the vessels to be seen.

Sluggishly, eyes opened to reveal confused blue. A blue that seemed to go on forever. Something that Sasuke had missed with every fibre of his being.

Those eyes took in their surroundings, the battle wary Shinobi, both from the Leaf and Nara's allies. They moved to the barrier, the confusion deepening.

. . . . . and last they landed on Sasuke.

For an eternity neither of them moved, neither uttered a sound.

It was as though the whole world had stopped spinning and there was no one else that mattered.

A smile began to lift the corners of Naruto's mouth, eyes lighting with the action, and recognition replaced confusion. "Sasuke."

Sasuke took half a step forward. Was this him? Was this the dobe they all knew and loved? His heart was pounding almost painfully as hope blossomed to life. It had to be Naruto!

"It's been a while hasn't it? How long? Four years?" Naruto asked stepping close to the barrier but not touching it.

"Five." Sasuke managed to say, his throat suddenly dry. He'd imagined this moment for years, had practised every word he wanted to say to the blond but now that it was here, nothing came out, no words were there. "It's been almost five." This was Naruto. He was finally home. The happy, perpetually smiling dobe was back where he belonged.

That smile widened and it was like the world had brightened. "Sorry to keep you waiting then. I guess I got lost of the road of life, neh Sasuke?" His tone held a slight hint of cheekiness, only a fraction of what it used to have but it was there nonetheless.

"Naruto." Sakura gasped running up to the barrier but stopping just before it.

Sasuke blinked when Naruto didn't even react to Sakura. Those blue eyes remained fixed on him. That was his first indication that something was not right.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked, trying not to show the pain his dismissal had caused her.

This time the blonde's gaze did move to her but it seemed to have been done so reluctantly.

"Oh, Sakura. Didn't see you there." Naruto tilted his head to the side slightly, a small frown of confusion marring his features.

"Naruto! Please tell me you'll come home now?" Sakura demanded, deciding to ignore his behaviour in favour of convincing herself that it was only the aftereffects of the jutsu.

"Home?" Naruto asked.

"Konoha! To us, Team 7 with Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei and me." Sakura cried out, desperate for Naruto to show some sort of recognition other than to Sasuke.

"Why?"

A simple word, asked with complete sincerity.

Sasuke placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder and pulled her back. She let him, eyes never leaving Naruto as she stared at him in disbelief. The reality was starting to sink in.

"You're_ him_ aren't you?" Sasuke asked tonelessly, falling back into his mask. He didn't know what else to do.

Naruto's features began to morph, the honest, open confusion twisted into a supercilious smirk as blue eyes hardened into cold steel discs.

"Why Sasuke, whatever do you mean? I'm Naruto. Really, I am." Naruto's tone wasn't mocking or overly fake. It was _sincere_ which made it so much worse. That smirk dropped so fast it was as though it had melted. It was replaced by a disgusted sneer. "I just didn't want the world to see the real me so I hid it in the hopes that by ignoring how I really felt it wouldn't hurt so much, that people would eventually accept me. But there's no reason to hide who I truly am anymore. What's the point?"

"What's the point?" Sasuke repeated, his tone dry.

"Yes, Sasuke, what's the point, when people only recognise power. Even if that power was unfairly gained, or inaccurately bloated." Naruto replied, this time his tone mocking.

"Is that what all this is really about? You're like _this_ because people said I defeated Gaara?" Sasuke demanded, his tone showing his disgust. "Because if that is the only reason, than you're more of a dobe than I thought."

Naruto raised a brow at him while the Shinobi around Sasuke winced. If that's how he thought he could win Naruto over he was sorely deluded.

"Did you really think I was so immature, _so petty_ as to allow something so trivial to make me slash my own headband, an action I was intimately aware of its _entire_ meaning, and betray my own village? A village I was utterly devoted to in spite of how they treated me. If that's all it would've taken I'd have left a long time ago and you really don't know me at all." Naruto replied, his tone suggesting that he was silently laughing at the Uchiha.

"Then what? What was it? Please, do enlighten us all to this great injustice that had befallen you! I'm on the edge of my seat." Sasuke yelled, his temper finally snapping.

"More like the end of your patience. But it has been five years . . . almost. I suppose I could spare a moment to educate you." Naruto inclined his head and waved a hand imperiously. "Let's see . . . it all began on the day I returned from my mission to bring Tsunade back to the Village. At the time, my focus was entirely upon you and Kakashi. Itachi had encountered you both in his search for me and in each encounter you'd ended up injured, confined to the hospital while I had been powerless to prevent it. I _hated_ it. You were my comrades yet I could not protect you from an enemy that was after me. Imagine for a moment how that would make someone like me feel, someone who treasured companionship above all else."

Itachi did not miss all the past tense connotations.

"I was excited. I'd found someone who could help my comrades heal and I had learnt a new jutsu, a powerful one. Just like Sasuke's Chidori. I wasn't even mad at Kakashi for not having taught me before the chunin exams . . . . . I was content." Naruto continued, his voice deeper than what it had been since they had last seen each other and even deeper than what the vessels had been. "I had people that acknowledged me and during the chunin exams I'd had my chance to protect them, just like I'd always wanted, even if the situation was less than desirable. Contentment, such a fickle and momentary thing, but in that moment, I had it."

"Then that bubble of delusions was popped in a _single moment_, like all great things. It can only last but a moment, a moment of glory, a moment of complete despair. Sakura, the girl I faithfully cared for despite her treatment of me loudly proclaimed gratitude to my greatest rival for something** I** had done. Take but a moment to imagine what that must have felt like. Place yourselves in my shoes and see it the way I did."

Sasuke felt compelled to do as this voice asked but he resisted. Naruto was far too skilled at manipulation. Where had he learnt such a subtle skill?

"You can't, can you? You can't see it. How can you when none of you have ever experienced the pain of my existence, the pain that only true loneliness brings. Everything I have ever had, I've had to work myself into the ground for." Naruto was quiet now, a soft smile on his face, eyes distant. "Unlike Sasuke who has always had someone, who's never known what it really means to work for something having always been given everything."

"That's not true!" Sasuke snapped. He hated it when people presumed that he had never worked for the things he had. He worked just as hard as the rest of them.

"Oh? So what, that family of yours, that was just a figment of my imagination. Or that talent and natural genius. What about those villagers that fawned over you? Let's not forget the fangirls and the Sharingan. An entire classroom of students all rooting for one person while simultaneously putting another one down just because he dared to attempt to be friends with an Uchiha, dared to challenge that Uchiha's skills." Naruto's spat. "But wait, that family was murdered. The all amazing big brother the culprit. Those fangirls were annoying and those villagers were just pitying you, looking for attention from the great Uchiha. The Sharingan wasn't active yet, taking a full four years longer than Itachi, so that meant your genius didn't compare to him. That dobe, he deserved what he got. He was loud and annoying, a no talent clanless loser who nobody liked. What did he know of pain? He's never had anyone or anything so what could he possibly know of your pain? He's just holding you back."

Naruto stopped to smirk at Sasuke knowingly, as though he'd known all along that those were Sasuke's very thoughts in their genin and Academy days.

"Right Sasuke?"

"Don't blame me for circumstances. I didn't have anything to with any of that!" Sasuke snapped. Outwardly he was pissed, but internally he was reeling. So much truth . . .

"True, but it does raise a rather interesting point. Whose pain is worse? I guess we'll never know until we've walked a mile in each other's shoes." Naruto shrugged the entire matter away as though it meant nothing to him. "Anyways, back to our little lesson. After that first blow I was reminded again and again of how I'd 'failed' to defeat Gaara and how you were so glorious and magnificent. Nothing really new to me actually, just the part where it was all a lie. See I'd come to accept that you were naturally above me and that I'd have to _claw_ my way to the top, I'd have to work myself into the ground every day if I was ever to succeed in surpassing you. I even accepted that I'd have to do it alone since you had everyone else at your disposal, ready to help you should you ever ask, not that you ever did. Something I could never understand." Naruto continued with his explanation, his tone growing slightly bitter.

"The part that was all new was the part where this was _my achievement_ that everyone was praising you for and I didn't actually know how I felt about that. I wasn't sure if I wanted to clobber you over the head for it or if I wanted to just continue fighting my way to the top, proving that I could be just as great as you. I was thinking it over when Iruka found me. Still, what he said, it made me angrier, hurt me . . . but it wasn't enough to drive me away. Not quite. I hated the fact that even someone so precious to me couldn't see the truth of that day, didn't believe it was possible for me to achieve something like that, and that hurt more than anything else that had happed so far." Naruto looked away as he closed his eyes, the light catching off of his slashed headband.

"Naruto, you had to know I never meant that." Iruka interrupted, sounding choked. "You had to know that I was only joking."

"Later, I came to the realisation that yes, you were joking, about the Hokage part. The fact still remained that you believed that Sasuke had defeated Gaara. Still, how could you have believed any different? I don't blame you for it and it's not like I told you the truth because it's not like you would've believed me anyway." Naruto had moved his steely gaze to Iruka, never blinking the entire time. "You'd have scolded me for taking credit where it wasn't due, just like Sakura."

"Naruto . . ." Iruka breathed, sounding utterly helpless. What could any of them say to convince the blond to stay? This was starting to look hopeless.

"After that I became determined to set things right. I wanted to tell everyone the truth and so I went to the one person who would make everyone listen, the Hokage." Naruto continued, dismissing Iruka as easily as one would dismiss a speck of dust.

"But I never saw you." Tsunade frowned. "Not once did you ask me about Gaara and Sasuke."

"That is because you, more than anything else, are the reason I left." Naruto smirked. "If I continue with this little lesson, I'll say things that I probably shouldn't but hey, what does it really matter anymore?"

Tsunade furrowed her brows in confusion but Jiraiya looked away in shame. "You heard that didn't you?" he asked quietly.

"Sure. Most of it." Naruto replied with a shrug but his eyes had darkened. "Enough of it."

"You don't know the whole story Naruto." Jiraiya said desperately, hoping that Naruto didn't because that would mean he could clear it all up for the blond, convince him to stay.

"Oh, I don't? Information is so easy to come by when you know where to look for it. Where would you like for me to begin? Menma already said something about it to Team 7 but they didn't really catch the hint. Perhaps I should spell it out for them." Naruto was smirking in gleeful anticipation while Jiraiya winced. "Shall I tell them about Tsunade's words or yours?"

"What is he talking about?" Sasuke demanded of the two sannin.

Naruto's smirk deepened and he raised his hands to perform a jutsu. "Let's show them, neh Pervy Sage?"

The barrier shimmered before an image wavered into view. A low grumbling, something a disgruntled child might do, filled the air. "I'll make 'em see. Then they'll have to congratulate me and not the teme! Che, thinking he's so great. Grandma Tsunade will set it straight . . ."

This was a memory, once again shown through the eyes of the blond. They appeared to be walking towards the Hokage tower. No one made a move to stop the genin or even to talk to him as the boy walked towards the newly instated Hokage's office. He stopped for a moment outside the door to take a deep breath, raising a hand to knock on the partially open door, but a slightly slurred bark stopped him.

"These reports are a pain in my ass. Can't we do this later?"

"Come on Tsunade, we're almost done. So tell me, based on the current genin reports who do you think is most suited to take your hat?" Jiraiya teased.

"Urg, don't remind me." Tsunade slurred. "Besides that question is an easy one, the Uchiha brat."

"But Milady, what about Naruto?" Shizune asked and the frown could be heard in her tone.

"The brat has the spirit but not the intellect. It takes far more than sheer confidence and determination to rule a village of Shinobi, especially one of the five Great Shinobi Nations and I cannot, in good conscious, hand the hat over to the brat." Tsunade stated, the sound of a cup sliding across a wooden surface accompanying the speech.

"That's not fair Tsunade." Jiraiya scolded. "You can't possibly believe that after seeing him against Orochimaru and his pet."

Tsunade merely scoffed, the sound of a cup returning to the desk following soon after.

"Naruto has plenty of potential. He just needs a firm hand to guide him." Jiraiya continued.

"Ha! Don't confuse the brat for his father. Namikaze Minato might have been a genius but Naruto's records show that he certainly is not. He's lucky to even be a ninja according to this. The Uchiha brat took down a Jinchuriki! Naruto's records are worse than yours and Uzumaki Kushina's combined." Tsunade stated loudly and rudely.

"I'm so sorry Jiraiya. She's been drinking a lot more than usual. It seems that being back in the village is hard on her." Shizune's tone was soft and apologetic but Naruto, he barely heard it. His heart was pounding in his chest, which felt like it was being squeezed almost excruciatingly, making breathing a laborious task.

The blond genin took a step back, unable to believe what he'd just heard.

"_Besides that question is an easy one, the Uchiha brat."_

"_. . . It takes far more than sheer confidence and determination to rule a village of Shinobi, especially one of the five Great Shinobi Nations and I cannot, in good conscious, hand the hat over to the brat."_

"_Ha! Don't confuse the brat for his father. Minato Namikaze might have been a genius but Naruto's records show that he certainly is not. He's lucky to even be a ninja according to this. The Uchiha brat took down a Jinchuriki! Naruto's records are worse than yours and Kushina Uzumaki's combined."_

" _. . . Don't confuse the brat for his father. . ."_

"_. . . Namikaze Minato. . ."_

Naruto was in such a daze that by the time he realised where he was, he was already near his apartment. Those words, they just didn't stop though. They kept repeating themselves over and over again in his mind, like a stuck record, constantly reminding him that he was never going to be good enough in Tsunade's eyes. Never . . .

The memory faded away, leaving everyone shocked and dazed. Revelations rained down on them, making it hard to accept everything in one go. This was becoming too much, too quickly. How had Naruto handled it all?

He hadn't. He'd run away.

"So tell me Sasuke, was that a good enough reason to leave? Is it justified now? If not, take a moment to see it from _my point of view_." Naruto's sneering questions broke the silence, forcing them to return to reality. "Because willingly or not, Sasuke, you stole everything from me. Everything I'd ever wanted, you took that away from me and all because you didn't tell the truth about Gaara. And if you still don't see it, Tsunade lost her faith in me because she saw that you had defeated Gaara. I was just the dobe from the Academy once again, overshadowed by your Uchiha name."

Sasuke growled in anger, showing his frustration as he ran a hand through his hair roughly. "I don't want to be the Hokage! Don't you get it?! I never wanted to be the damn Hokage. You can have it for all I care."

"Oh but Sasuke, you fail to understand this situation." Naruto was frowning now, like he saw Sasuke as nothing more than a mere child throwing a tantrum.

"It doesn't matter. It's not those who become the Hokage who are acknowledged, it's those who are acknowledged who become the Hokage." Itachi stated quietly.

"Exactly." Naruto's face was blank, looking to Itachi as he measured the older Uchiha. "It didn't matter what I wanted. The people saw only you. Saw only your power. Never mine. I realised that as long as I remained under your shadow, I could never reach my dream. I would never be acknowledged. Then I got to thinking. What do people see? And there was only one answer: Power. I had to gain power."

"Well I see you now Naruto. I acknowledge you as more than my equal. All I want is for you to come home. You loved Konoha with everything you had, why has that changed? Or was that love so meaningless." Sasuke countered, trying to let Naruto see that he really didn't care about being the Hokage and trying to guilt him into returning.

"Hahaha. It's so cute how you think I still want to be the Hokage. During my travels I came to realise something. Who does get to be the Hokage? What makes that one person so different from all the other Shinobi in a village? Was it the power they wielded? But no, it wasn't quite that. After all, if it was just as simple as that Kakashi would've have been the Hokage long ago. Then I realised it all came down to usefulness." Naruto explained, ignoring Sasuke's other words and looking towards the two sannin with a smirk that was quickly growing on everyone's nerves.

"To make it simple for you, why is Jiraiya not the Hokage? After all he's just as powerful as Tsunade and not to mention he was actually in the village at the time of the choosing. Simply put, Jiraiya is too useful out in the field than sitting behind a desk. So what does Tsunade have that Jiraiya doesn't, what makes her a better candidate for the position?" Naruto was grinning now like this was extremely amusing to him. "Who better to saddle down to a glorified desk job than a useless old bat who wasn't contributing to the system either way?"

The question was met with growl of anger and disgust. Naruto was not making any friends by disrespecting the Hokage, yet no one interrupted him and he continued.

"Jiraiya's spy network meant he wasn't useless enough. Kakashi was the best field jonin and he was training the last Uchiha while making sure the village Jinchuriki didn't go berserk. Gai was training a Byakugan prodigy and was also too useful out in the field. Plus his personality made it hard to take him seriously among other things."

Naruto paused, as though allowing them time to absorb the words and a few people were beginning to murmur amongst themselves, too low to actually pinpoint who and what was being said.

"Why not Danzou?" Naruto continued yet again, "Because his actions in the shadows were needed now more than ever and he couldn't work from them when he was directly in the sunlight. Besides I'm not entirely sure as to whether he had a part to play in Sarutobi's death." Naruto inclined his head nonchalantly. "Yuuhi Kurenai, would never be strong enough and useless without Sarutobi Asuma at her side. Sarutobi while previously a member of the Twelve, was once again too useful out in the field. Anko, a student of Orochimaru and as such compromised, not to mention not strong enough. The list really goes on and on but it boils down to one thing, who is the most useless yet the most powerful?"

"If that is your reasoning for the Hokage, then what do you have to say about the others, the ones before?" Itachi asked, tilting his head in interest.

"Easy enough. Enslavement." Naruto replied. "What's the best way to ensure your most powerful Shinobi stays loyal but is also in a position where other Villages won't get nervous enough to attack because that Shinobi is in a very visible position so they know where that Shinobi is at all times? Example: Gaara. Who in their right mind would make him a Kage after everything that he did? No one. They made him the Kazekage to make sure he remained loyal. That is all. I saw it while I was in Suna." Naruto seemed to believe whole heartedly in this and nothing they said would change that. "So, no, I don't want to be the Hokage."

"Your reasoning is, different." Itachi agreed, showing interest but also amusement.

"Screw that! It's selfish." Sakura growled. "You threw everything away merely because you overheard a drunken conversation! That's pure selfishness Naruto."

Naruto raised a brow at the declaration. "Ignorance was always your specialty Pinkie. You could say that that conversation was the last straw for me. Let's break it down for you. I am Uzumaki Naruto. My favourite colour is orange, my favourite food is ramen from Ichiraku's and I love to prank people. Oh, and I'm also an idiot. But, why, why do I do these things?"

Sakura didn't know how to answer. In fact many people found themselves wondering just why did Naruto act like that?

"See, orange is bright. You can't miss it no matter how hard you try. You'll see me whether you want to or not. Ichiraku ramen is the best because it's cheap enough for me to afford and Ayame and her father never cared that I was a Jinchuriki. I prank people because then they can't ignore me, even if they are yelling at me." Naruto explained patiently but just by his tone they realised that this was no longer his thoughts on life, just what it had been. "And I act the idiot because I never wanted people to not like me. I was desperate for attention, any attention. I never had anyone to help me out in my training so Academy scores were naturally poor and besides, I was hoping that Iruka would offer to help me after school, just so I wouldn't have to go home to a lonely apartment. Acting the idiot also meant that people had to take the time to explain things to me. More attention."

Naruto's tone changed and he spoke again after a brief pause. "I am Uzumaki Naruto, and I am the hidden son of the Fourth Hokage. I am the boy that never showed his true capabilities because no one wanted to see them."

"That isn't true Naruto. I always wanted you to succeed." Iruka protested. "Not everyone was cruel to you. Not everyone saw you as only the tailed beast you carry within you. You have to see that Naruto."

"Oh, you want to play that game. Alright. Give me a name, a person you think that was nice to me without having any reason to at all, who was never cruel at all." Naruto challenged, eyes lighting up in delight.

"Iruka." Sasuke immediately put forth.

"Wrong. 'Everyone, don't bother with this kid.'" Naruto quoted gleefully and Iruka's eyes widened in pain. He didn't know that Naruto had even remembered that.

"Sarutobi." This was from some random Shinobi that Naruto didn't even pay attention to.

"Wrong. He shoved me in an apartment when I was four and gave me rent money every month. Not once did he offer to train me. Not once did he step in to help me when I struggled to get anything from the villagers. Everything I had, I had to fight for. He kept the truth of my parents from me, and for all intents and purposes didn't appear to ever want to tell me who they were. I could go on, but I don't want to bore you."

"Hinata." This was from Kiba.

"Wrong. Hinata was a shadow in the background of my world. She never offered to help me either. She was just there. What use do I have for someone like that?"

"Kakashi." Sasuke offered just to see what Naruto would say about the man. He knew it would be wrong.

"He shoved me off first chance he got. I don't even have to explain that one. You already knew it would never work. Besides, where the hell was he for the first twelve years of my life?" Naruto replied, a hint of irritation in his tone. "Let's make it easier for you all. Sakura clobbered me half to death most of the time and only cared about Sasuke. Sasuke cared only for himself and I was nothing but a nuisance to him, merely getting in his way to power. Jiraiya didn't even want to train me until he saw my sexy no jutsu. Ichiraku ramen liked my money. Let's face it I was their best customer. Ino was all about Sasuke. Kiba thought I was a dead last. Shikamaru and Choji stuck to themselves, only helping out when it was convenient or if it wasn't too troublesome. Shall I go on?"

If this was Naruto's attitude towards everyone, then they were never going to convince him otherwise. It didn't matter if people were best friends, at some point in their relationship a fight of some sort had broken out. If Naruto had taken all of them to heart, every glare, every poorly worded statement, then they'd never convince him to stay.

Still, seeing just how much he had been hurt, seeing just how little he'd had, it was enough to make them realise how naïve they'd been. They'd been comfortable in their lives not once imagining just what kind of a life Naruto had had. They'd assumed that since he was so happy all the time, since he'd been so loyal, that bringing him back to Konoha would be easy, that he'd _want _to come back. Not once did it occur to them that maybe, just maybe, Naruto might be hopelessly unhappy.

"What about me you jerk!" Konohamaru yelled, his anger showing through in every syllable. He stormed towards the barrier and this time Naruto's face fell slack, eyes staring down at the chunin in slight shock.

"You were like a brother to me! I trusted you. Do you have any idea how I felt when you left? I'd just lost my grandfather, the man that was supposed to be the Hokage! Then you just left. How was I supposed to feel after that? What was I supposed to do?!" Konohamaru continued.

"You're just a kid." Naruto started to say, but his voice trailed off, staring at Konohamaru as though he'd grown another head.

But then he shook his head with a growl and looked away. "It doesn't matter. It's too late. I've already made up my mind. It's time I acted. This lesson is over." Naruto snapped, his calm and arrogant mask cracking under the pressure that Konohamaru was applying.

"What do you mean? You're stuck in that barrier. You're not leaving it." Sasuke stated confidently only for Naruto to chuckle at him.

That chuckle changed to a full blown laugh, not a shred of sanity showing through.

"Why, Sasuke, do you think it took me four years to act? When do you think I gained enough power to be stronger than you, or do you see yourself that highly?" Naruto asked between chuckles. "Why do you think I allowed someone like Menma to have a 'vessel' all to himself when it would have been safer to make only the three others? Taking Menma out of the others meant they had no loyalty to the Leaf at all. Why would I do that when I supposedly meant the Leaf no harm?"

Naruto stopped talking because he was laughing so hard. He actually had to sit down as tears rolled down his face and his eyes screwed shut.

"I needed a way to get back to myself. Who would want to remain in pieces? I'm not crazy like that you know. Menma was the fail safe. It was in his design to create all of this. To bring you all here. The barrier. Reversing the jutsu. All of it. He was meant to do that. Otherwise I'd still be stuck in pieces." Naruto chuckled. "I had surpassed you only a mere year into my training. Itachi should have realised that one already since I master jutsus that had taken him days in mere hours. With my ability to create so many shadow clones, I surpassed all of my peers in a few months. But by that time I'd already given in, stopped pretending to be something I wasn't. The rest of the time I was away was overkill really, and time to enact my other plan."

"What other plan?" Sasuke asked, almost too afraid to get the answer.

"I promised myself that you would never achieve anything. I realised that if you learnt the truth about your brother, then you'd stop trying to kill him. But then you'd have a new dream. You would continue to create a new dream every time I crushed one or made it impossible to achieve. This didn't really help me out. So I had to come up with something else. I could crush the Leaf but then you just might survive, you just might go to another hidden village and make new dreams there. I didn't like that." Naruto's gaze was darkening with every word, every statement bringing his tone closer and closer to delirium. "I also came to the decision that all Shinobi villages were bad. They all had to pay. Who did they think they were, taking innocent people and turning them into Jinchuriki and then having the nerve to treat them like scum? It wasn't right. I had to stop it. So I needed the time to prepare my plan. I needed to build my reputation so that it would come to this point. I had to learn. Did you know that it takes two years to travel to all the villages that hold Shinobi?"

"Naruto . . . what did you do?" Itachi asked, for once his features showing his shock.

"I made sure that no one would ever have to suffer like I did ever again. I needed time. I had to do it. I ripped myself into parts so that I could cover more ground. I had to make sure I got them all. Nara, Nin and Kage were to go to every hidden village, erect a barrier, sticking around long enough to make sure that every person in that village passed through the barrier. Once they did that, then they'd be marked. Every single person had to have a mark. Only those with higher chakra signals were marked, only Shinobi would be punished. I had to make sure I got them all. I needed so much time. So much patience." Naruto explained with a satisfied smile on his face.

"All the hidden villages are moving into war positions, all Shinobi being recalled because they want to attack Konoha for working with the Kage. They also noticed weakness. They wish to use it. So they're all going to be in one place. I must thank you for that." Naruto informed them cheerfully. "Menma was the fail safe, there to make sure I was pulled back together again. He was there to mark the Konoha Shinobi, infiltrate their barrier. He was also your hope. Like the necklace Tsunade gave to me, how she made me believe I had a chance. Menma was there to make you feel that last bit of hope before I ripped it away, just like you did to me."

"You can't destroy them all. Not even you have enough chakra for such a thing." Itachi whispered, eyes showing his realisation.

"We shall have to just see on that one." Naruto shrugged. "I can get a good many of them. I even marked the Akatsuki. There won't be any Shinobi left. All the information has been marked as well. You'll be amazed at how easy it is to get to a village's information when you use shadows to travel. There won't be anything left to teach future generations anything about being a Shinobi. It'll die out. No one will ever have to experience my pain again. Pein had it wrong. The only way to end this cycle of hatred is to end all Shinobi."

"Naruto you have to stop. You have to reconsider." Iruka tried desperately to reason with Naruto when he realised just how far this was going.

"Why?" Naruto seemed to be truly confused by this. Why should he stop what he was doing, he was right and they were wrong. That was all there was to it. Everything was in place. All he had to do was act.

"Do you think this is what your father wanted?" Jiraiya suddenly interrupted. "Your father loved this village with all his heart. Are you really willing to destroy all that?"

"I don't care about a dead man's wishes. They clearly didn't involve me." Naruto snapped. "Soon, all of you will be dead. That is why I told you everything you wished to know because soon it won't matter anymore." Naruto continued. They had to keep him talking. If they ran out of things to talk about he'd activate this jutsu of his. "I'm quite safe within this barrier of mine. You can't get in to kill me and I can't leave. Not yet."

"There's just one problem in that little equation," Sasuke stated quietly, eyes closed in concentration.

"Yeah? And what would that be?" Naruto asked, clearly amused.

"You forgot about me." Sasuke replied, opening his eyes to reveal the Mangekyou.

"Oh so you think new eyes are going to make a difference. That's so cute." Naruto scoffed but the amusement was short lived. Naruto was forced to jump out of the way as the earth near him exploded, only to come raining down in a shower of clods.

A Chidori followed as Sasuke emerged, leaping straight for Naruto. Naruto's space was limited to the barrier and he couldn't move out of the way. Instead he made a grab for Sasuke's wrist, trying to force it towards the barrier.

"Chidori Sharp Spear!" Sasuke snapped and the lightning in his hand shot out like a porcupine, several of the crackling spears piercing through Naruto.

"You've improved it." Naruto noted unnecessarily as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, his body twitching due to the electric current now flowing through him. "But it is enough?" Naruto asked before a high pitched whine alerted the Uchiha to the ball of spinning chakra within Naruto's palm.

"Wind style: Rasenshuriken." Naruto stated calmly as though there weren't multiple shards of lightning currently impaling him before flicking his wrist towards Sasuke.

Sasuke was forced to release his own jutsu and duck out of the way. The wind version of the Fourth Hokage's jutsu impacted with the barrier, exploding with enough force to send both Naruto and Sasuke into the opposite side of the barrier where they were promptly electrocuted for the contact.

"This place is too small to fight." Naruto frowned, getting to his feet and completely ignoring the wounds he already had. Sasuke forced himself to stand as well, pulling out a kunai. Taijutsu was still an option.

"I will kill you." Sasuke promised. "If you continue this foolish course of action, I'll stop at nothing to make sure you die!"

"You can try." Naruto shrugged. "But it won't be easy. I can outlast you in stamina alone."

"Over confidence can kill you Naruto." Sasuke warned, raising the kunai before rushing towards Naruto in their very limited space.

"Who told you that? Kakashi? I seem to recall you being every bit as arrogant as that Uchiha name is known for." Naruto sneered.

Naruto pulled out his own kunai, a bastardised version of the Fourth's Flying Thunder God kunai. He blocked the slash aimed for his neck, barely even moving to do so. Sasuke forced himself not to fall into a blind rage. It would not help matters.

"I guess Menma made a fuck up with the barrier. No matter. It'll still serve its purpose and this way, I get to personally kill you, Uchiha." Naruto snarled at him, no longer keeping up the friendly pretence.

"Not if I kill you first." Sasuke warned with narrowed eyes.

Neither Sasuke nor Naruto were expecting the two wooden pillars to shoot up from the ground. One wrapped around Naruto, restraining him to the ground, while the other wrapped around Sasuke and yanked him out the way he'd come in.

Sasuke could only watch helplessly as Jiraiya slammed a hand to the ground, a new seal wrapping around the one already activated. This barrier severed the wooden pillar that was connected to the Cat ANBU, showing that access through the ground was now no longer an option.

"Why did you do that?!" Sasuke screamed the moment he was released, placed next to his older brother who clamped a hand down on his shoulder and squeezed, hard.

"You can't kill him. Enemy or not, killing a Jinchuriki still has disastrous consequences. We're in the middle of the village. For one thing, the energy released would not only kill you, it would destroy the village." Itachi explained.

"So what? We'll keep him there, watch him starve to death?" Sasuke snarled angrily.

"YOU THINK THIS CAN HOLD ME!?" Naruto screamed, rushing towards the first barrier and slamming against it. What was he trying to achieve? "YOU THINK THIS WILL BE ENOUGH?" Another slam of his body but this time sparks flew into the air. "THAT THIS WILL CONTAIN ALL OF MY POWER? **ALL OF OUR POWER?**"

Sasuke watched with horrified fascination as red chakra bled into the air and surrounded the blonde's body causing a morbid change to befall the boy. Nails elongated into claws. Teeth sharped and broke through both his bottom and top lip. Eyes turned harsh and feral as hair danced wildly in the red chakra that now encased him.

One tail waved behind Naruto as he slashed at the barrier, another tail quickly growing when one was just not enough to break it.

The first barrier, Menma's barrier, shattered in a shower of luminescent sparks that burned into one's vision when the third tail emerged.

Naruto's wild laugh of pure undiluted madness was all that could be heard over the crackling sparks of the lightening.

"Neji, Hinata, Sasuke and Itachi." Tsunade barked, taking charge of a spiralling situation.

The four Shinobi called for moved towards her in a teleportation jutsu. "I want you four to look for this supposed mark of his. Find it and figure out what it does. In the meantime, Jiraiya, how long can you keep up that barrier?" Tsunade ordered and asked at the same time.

"Long enough to get everyone out of here." Jiraiya grunted.

"Can you seal away that blasted fox's chakra?" Tsunade demanded with a nod at his precious statement.

"If much more of it is released, then no." Jiraiya estimated.

"Alright, I want everyone to evacuate the area immediately. This has now become a hazardous zone and we're working with borrowed time so move quickly." Tsunade barked towards the masses, stating her orders to the Konoha Shinobi and non-Konoha Shinobi alike. All those that didn't find that order as something of common sense could remain here and die for all she cared. "Jiraiya, you work on that seal. I don't have to tell you to move quickly."

Shinobi began to scatter from the area, some reluctantly.

"I'm not going anywhere, Milady." Sakura informed the blond Hokage.

"Neither am I." Konohamaru growled.

"Don't make me drag you brat." Ebisu-sensei warned.

"As if! Didn't you notice? He never had a good enough reason for me. He never answered any of my questions." Konohamaru argued back with a pout.

"Brat, in the condition he's in, he'll rip you to shreds and he won't even know it's you." Tsunade snapped at the chunin.

"I'm not leaving." The Sarutobi was adamant and nothing short of knocking him unconscious and dragging him away was going to convince him otherwise.

"I'll stay too, if that's not too much trouble." Kakashi added lightly.

Gradually, more and more of the Konoha 11 began to stand their ground with the Hokage, all of them refusing to leave, their sensei and Iruka standing with them.

"Jiraiya, how's that seal coming?" Asuma asked, pulling out his knives.

"Hold your horses dammit. I'm trying to keep that barrier up and think of a seal to stop the brat in his tracks." Jiraiya snapped back irritably.

Naruto was attacking the barrier that Jiraiya had erected over and over, not stopping, not growing tired as he rained blow after blow on the rippling obstruction.

He pulled back and roared, literally roared into the sky to show his frustration before the power surrounding him only increased to unimaginable heights and Naruto's body was forced into another gruesome transformation. The skin on his body began to bubble before peeling off and dissolving away under the poisonous influence of the Kyuubi's chakra.

Blood dripped to the floor and more and more of Naruto's skin was eaten away, horrifying those watching the change. Jiraiya stopped his frantic planning, shaking his head sadly.

"It's too late, there's nothing I can do to stop that."

A fourth tail bubbled into existence and a bright haze began to surround Naruto, forcing them all to once again look away. When the light had faded, Naruto appeared to be a miniature version of the Kyuubi himself.

This little Kyuubi was no less a ball of destruction.

A foul chakra began to gather near its snout, building and building with every passing second and all those watching were helpless to stop it.

The ball of pure negative chakra was swallowed, the ground around Naruto dipping at his weight. Soulless eyes found them, watched them, before that chakra was released, but the barrier held . . . barely.

Another roar of rage and another swipe, but the barrier held . . . however the Kyuubi's power was still building.

Which one would win?

* * *

Naruto sloshed through his mind's sewer, sneering in disgust at the water that surrounded his ankles.

"Isn't there anything that can be done about this?" He sneered at the fox directly in front of him.

"**Just hurry up and release me. You want your revenge, don't you?"** Kyuubi snarled back impatiently. "**Give in to me, release this cursed seal and I shall give you all the power you could ever want**."

Naruto glared at the fox, "Cut the crap, fuzzball. It's always the same old song and dance with you isn't it?" he sneered. His shirt was blown open by the fox's chakra showing his impatience, revealing Naruto's torso. The seal darkened into appearance on his stomach, slowly beginning to change and unlocking of its own accord. Naruto didn't even try to stop it, watching in slight amusement as the ink pooled in the centre before running off his body and leaking into the water below. He chuckled once, allowing the red chakra to wrap around him and lift him closer to the paper seal placed on the gates keeping the Kyuubi at bay. This was the moment they'd both been waiting for. Freedom and revenge. Naruto didn't even care that he was losing himself to the fox's rage. It didn't matter so long as they all suffered, like he did. That was all he wanted and he would have it!

No matter the cost.

Wasn't it ironic that this would be the cause of his salvation then? The very thing he'd been hated for, this seal that had been placed on him at birth in the effort to _save_ their ungrateful lives.

He chuckled in dark amusement, fingers curling around the seal, ready to remove it in one quick swipe.

A larger, warm hand grasped his wrist, stopping him from tearing off the seal. An arm wrapped around him and dragged him towards the floor once again, depositing him there where he promptly fell on his ass.

"Naruto . . ." the sad yet warm acknowledgement filled his mind, freezing Naruto to the spot. A hand was offered to help him up to his feet, but Naruto did not take it.

Slowly almost afraid at what he might see, the blond raised his head, the black rings of his eyes looking directly into the face of the man that had caused all of this. All his pain and loneliness was centred around this man who had found it within himself to seal away a demon into his very own son, knowing the life that awaited him because of it.

"**You're the Yondaime Hokage**." Kyuubi noted, sounding only slightly miffed at the interruption and for that Naruto silently applauded the fox.

The Yondaime Hokage took in those dark, cold yet rage filled eyes and understood that his son had given in to the life of a true Jinchuriki. He had never known the secret that Mito had passed onto Kushina, had never learnt how to feel anything other than the Kyuubi's rage and anger.

How could Sarutobi have allowed this to happen? But no, this was not the Sandaime's mistake. This was his and his alone. He'd caused this.

"Naruto. Can you ever forgive me?" Namikaze Minato asked, his voice cracking on the word forgive. "I gave them my son, sacrificed my own duties as a father, so that they may live, but . . ." he stopped to take a deep shuddery breath.

"Forgive you?" Naruto interrupted darkly, getting to his feet. "Why would I do such a thing? You made your priorities perfectly clear the night you chose the village over your own son."

"And I regret every moment of it. I see now that my wishes for you to be treated as the hero you are went ignored and for that, I don't deserve your forgiveness, your love . . . . . but allow a father to indulge in his one desire." Minato stated, his tone conveying the very magnitude of the remorse he felt. He let go of Naruto's wrist slowly, Naruto not even having noticed that he was still holding it, moving a step backwards before falling to his knees so that he was looking upwards and into his son's dark gaze, pleading silently with him as he lowered his head and bowed to the boy he had done so much wrong by.

"I should not have condemned you to the life of a Jinchuriki but it was my hopes that in doing so, I was also giving you the power to succeed where I failed." Minato continued.

"Get up!" Naruto snapped angrily, snarling in distaste at the wince this caused in Minato. "You chose to be the fucking Fourth Hokage so now you will fucking well behave like the Fourth Hokage and a Hokage bows to no one. You don't get to act like the wounded father, not now." _Not ever._

Minato stayed still for a moment, absorbing Naruto's words before nodding and getting to his feet once again. When he lifted his head to look at Naruto, his gaze was just as calm and calculating, the gaze of a Hokage who knew what had to be done rather than that of a father seeking forgiveness from his only son.

"Well then, let me say this much, Uzumaki. Exacting your revenge on the Leaf will be satisfying, but only for a moment. What lasting satisfaction can be gained when there are none there who could ever hope to compare to you?" Minato stated tonelessly.

" . . ." Naruto narrowed his eyes but otherwise showed that he was listening. The Hokage's words showed that he was at least semi-aware of the world outside.

"The night you were born, there was one that even I could not defeat. If you are going down the path of revenge, then aim your attention towards this one. He is a powerful and formidable Shinobi whom I believe will strike once again . . . and he is the ultimate reason for your pain. The Leaf is nothing more than a trivial plaything in comparison to this Shinobi." Minato's tone was one of a Hokage giving a mission. There was no warmth, no understanding, nor subtle pleading. Merely calculated facts.

"He is an Uchiha who wears a mask with a single hole in it for his right eye." Minato explained. "He was the one that forced me to seal the Kyuubi within you, the one that ultimately convinced me that it was what was necessary since I had hoped to give you power in sealing the Kyuubi within you, the power to defeat this Shinobi. I had hoped that you would be able to master that chakra." _Because you are my son._

"This could just be your pathetic attempt to save your village." Naruto stated coldly.

"Take it how you want but that Shinobi is the one that caused all of this. That is not a lie." Minato shrugged.

The water spluttered and bubbled, building into the air and moulding into a shape that began to resemble a human. Slowly, features began to form in the water and colours bled into it.

"Is this the Shinobi?" Naruto asked, gesturing to the form that now resembled Tobi.

"Yes. He is the one that attacked your mother and I, the reason you grew up without us." Minato spat angrily, showing emotion for the first time since being told to act the Hokage he had chosen to be. _The reason I've lost my son to such dark hatred._

"Tobi, a Shinobi who wants the world to believe that he is Uchiha Madara. He is, in fact, your old student, Obito. He is currently working from behind the shadows with Nagato, using Nagato's hatred so that he may control him; get Nagato to do what he wants." Naruto stated blandly while the Fourth blinked in shock.

"Obito?" he stuttered. "But how?"

"Madara." Was the only answer Naruto gave. "Your proposal makes sense. The Leaf _doesn't_ offer me any resistance." Naruto tilted his head to the side, "and if what you say is true, then that makes them nothing more than innocent lambs of a situation beyond their control and understanding. This punishment would be meaningless. They would not understand it and make all my efforts something done in vain."

Minato wasn't sure what this meant for Naruto's plans as a whole.

"The fact that you sealed the Kyuubi within me for the sake of power also holds value for me. Perhaps, I can begin to see you as a father yet, Yondaime." Naruto continued thoughtfully.

"I'm going to fix the seal now. I'm not going to last much longer. All I ask is that you destroy that bastard, for taking away my chance at having a family, for taking away yours." He couldn't help stating that small request. Even a Hokage was human. Something he had proven the night his son was born.

Minato placed a hand on the seal, twisting it in the opposite direction and closing it more firmly than before. He knew that Naruto only reasoned in terms of power and advantage now. He no longer took anything into account if it did not affect him directly. He had to appeal to Naruto's darker nature, make it all sound like something he would want. As long as there was love in this world, there would also be hatred. But Naruto had never had that love to balance the hatred.

"I will grant you this, father." Naruto smirked, "But only because it interests me."

Pain dominated Minato's eyes as he began to fade from existence. When he'd sealed the Kyuubi within his very own son, this was not what he'd imagined. When he'd sealed his own chakra into the seal, this was not what he had hoped to see.

"Whatever you decide to do, whichever course of action you take, just know that I will always be proud of you and I will always love you." Minato whispered with all the warmth and love he held for his son, who flinched in shock at the words.

There was no time to reply as the Yondaime Hokage faded away completely.

* * *

Sasuke paused in his action of studying Hinata, trying to find a seal on her at all. The chakra around where Naruto was, was growing, infecting the air with its foul potency.

He couldn't help but wonder if this was the day he was going to die.

* * *

**Well if killing the entire Shinobi Nations seems a bit extreme, please try to remember that the build up and the anticipation kind of had to match the outcome. Large buildup, huuuge execution. At least that's the way I saw it. **


	15. Chapter 15

**This chapter was beta-ed by Jenny Cat Miaow. A truly awesome and patient beta. **

**To all those that stuck with this story this far, thanks you and many apologies if this story was disappointing at times. But there are hundreds of thousands of fics on this site so forgive me for being slightly less sympathetic to your disappointments than what you're expecting. **

**All the same, it warms my heart to think that you've made it this far, the final chapter. **

**And with that, this story is now complete.**

**So thank you.**

* * *

**Chapter 15**

The Kyuubi's chakra suddenly stopped building, causing everyone to tense up even more. Jiraiya and Tsunade were both watching intently, looking for any sign or shift to indicate what came next, both of them painfully aware that there was precious little they could really do that would both stop Naruto, keep him from harming those around him, as well as not kill him in the process.

Whatever they were expecting it wasn't the Kyuubi's chakra dissipating completely, causing Naruto to emerge once more. And it definitely wasn't the thoughtful look of contemplation that was on his features.

He neither looked at them nor acknowledged their presence in any way. He merely blinked before that thoughtful look deepened.

Naruto didn't continue attacking the barrier and Jiraiya visibly relaxed. But the question remained, what the hell was he planning on doing now?

* * *

**Sasuke, Hinata, Neji and Itachi**

Sasuke focused intently on the ninja in front of him, trying to find any sort of mark or seal that should not be there, any indication of the jutsu that Naruto had spoken about. What could possibly be so powerful that it would cause the death of all Shinobi? If Naruto could be believed that was, and if his words were not merely ramblings of a madman, a state of mind that Menma had warned them Naruto to be a victim of.

Yet by Naruto's own admission, Menma had been the decoy, the one who was supposed to cause them more pain. The false hope. In a way, Sasuke felt that he finally understood Naruto but at the same time he understood nothing. Why had Naruto pretended for so long to be something he wasn't, the fool of the team? Sure, his skill hadn't been hidden and he'd always tried his very best to prove himself but that had always been overridden by his loud obnoxiousness. So why do it?

Thinking back on it now, a time when he should be focusing on other things, Sasuke realised that Naruto was as much a prodigy as he was. Had he not mastered the tree climbing exercise in the same time as Sasuke had? Had he not managed to garner the skill needed to fight a jinchuriki in the space of a month, just as Sasuke had, only where Sasuke had failed, Naruto had succeeded? Had he not mastered a jutsu such as the Rasengan in a week, as Sasuke had later found out from Jiraiya?

Naruto was just as much a prodigy as he was only no one had noticed because no one had really wanted to. Add to that, Naruto had more chakra than any of them, making what he tried to accomplish so much harder because he had so much less control over that raging chakra. Not to mention that Naruto had the potential to be greater than all the Rookies from their year. And hadn't he proved it in becoming what he was now?

Sasuke knew in that moment, that there was nothing he could say to Naruto that would atone for what he had done, directly and indirectly. He was not innocent in this. Had he acknowledged the blond, taken notice when he'd tried to tell him they could be great_ together_, then perhaps this whole situation would not exist.

"_What you need to do now is ask yourself how you can fix what has already been done. But you can't be sure your plans will work until you know exactly why they are needed. And in that event you must ask yourself, are you able to do that which might need to be done should Naruto not want to come back?" _

"_If you're asking me if I'm willing to kill him then my answer is no! I will find a way to bring him back. The dobe has to have something left in this village, something that he still holds precious."_

"_Did you bother to research the kind of life Naruto had before he left? Did you bother to understand him at all?"_

"_Don't patronise me. You don't have the right."_

"_Naruto is coming back to the Leaf, but will you be ready as he, no doubt, is?"_

"_I'll bring him back. I'll remind him why he stayed for so long." _

"_You say that now foolish little brother, but I wonder if you'll accomplish it." _

His conversation with Itachi flashed through his mind and he wondered if Itachi had known that Naruto would be like this. Hadn't Menma warned them?

"_Just whose side are you on?"_

An angry demand that at the time had been a deflection, a way to distract himself from answering his brother's question.

"_Konoha. And I've come to realise that we just might have to kill Naruto. All I want to know is if you're prepared to do that?" _

So calm, so reasonable. That had always been Itachi. A man who was willing to disregard his entire clan for the sake of the village. And that was something Sasuke hadn't really taken a moment to comprehend . . . the type of person Itachi was.

"_But . . . how will you know that that is your only option? When is too far, _too far_? Naruto would never have given up. So tell me, Itachi, how will you know that there truly is no hope at all?"_

A foolishly asked question. He'd asked the question of the man who had sacrificed his whole life, his entire reputation and family, because he believed it was what was right. Oh how naïve Sasuke was.

"_Here's a question for you. Let's say, hypothetically, that Naruto agrees with you and does indeed return to the village. What then?" _

A question that at the time he'd decided could only be answered in a blinding moment of instinct. Had he answered it then, when he'd attacked Naruto? He'd been so adamant when he'd stated he would not kill Naruto but now he wasn't so sure. Could he really be so selfish as to let Naruto live after all this?

Was it fair to every single Shinobi in the elemental nations?

"_What will you do, if you find Uzumaki, and he _doesn't want_ to come back?"_

A question he'd scoffed off at the time, not willing to face the truth in them.

"_Assuming he ran away and wasn't captured by the enemy, what would you do if he were to fight against you with every ounce of strength he possessed? Forcing him to return will not make everything go back to the way it was. Nothing will be the way it was. Surely with a team such as yours, with your strategic intellect you must realise this, so why try? Why try for any other reason than to apprehend a missing-nin." _

Oh how right Sai had been. He was probably laughing his ass off right now, assuming ROOT could laugh.

Sasuke forced his mind away from that which he could not change right now and focused once again on the task at hand. Even if they did find this 'mark' they still had to find a way to remove it, to understand it.

He scowled when his searching for Naruto's blasted mark turned up with nothing. The Sharingan technically wasn't designed for this though, so he really shouldn't have been surprised.

However, that didn't mean he stopped trying. He smirked slightly to himself when he noticed that Itachi was frowning just the smallest bit, meaning he wasn't having much luck either.

"Oh no . . . he wouldn't."

Sasuke's attention snapped to Hinata, her words while uttered very quietly, almost breathlessly, were loud enough to catch everyone's attention.

"It's right here." Hinata stated, eyebrows pulling together in confusion and her eyes clouding with pain. "Here." She placed a hand above her heart, clutching the material of her jacket.

"It looks like a paralysis seal." Neji muttered, focusing on the hearts of the Shinobi who'd volunteered to be studied, "Directly on the heart. If that activates, no amount of chakra would save the person inflicted."

No one said a word as the information sank in. The Sharingan would never had been able to see the mark until it was activated, until it was too late.

"Ironic, isn't it." Itachi stated quietly, turning his gaze to where the barrier was, the barrier that held Naruto. "That he should place a seal upon our hearts, a seal that would freeze them."

_Is that the extent of the pain that you feel Naruto?_ Sasuke couldn't help but wonder.

* * *

**Naruto**

He had a lot to think about with his father's revelations. Things that not even the Sandaime would have known so it wasn't like they'd been kept from Naruto deliberately.

He frowned to himself as he sat down, ignoring all those around him. They were the pawns in a much larger game and suddenly the rules had changed. A minor setback but an annoying one all the same.

He hadn't planned to individually wipe out all those that had wronged him but this called for a special exception. Tobi, Obito, whoever he wanted to be, had done the ultimate wrong. He'd killed his own sensei is a roundabout way, tried to destroy his village and he was continuing to do so, only manipulating others to do it for him.

Naruto rested his head in his hand as his frown deepened.

He refused to think that he had been doing the same thing because technically he was going to kill everyone, not just a few measly targets of petty revenge. He'd meant what he'd said about the jinchuriki. It wasn't fair, not in the slightest.

After his conversation with his father however, things were in desperate need of reprioritising. He still wondered if this was just a ploy to get him to stop terrorising the Leaf but there was a truth in his father's words. So that left him with more decisions to make.

Going after Tobi was a definite. He was going to personally rip that Shinobi limb from limb. That little trick he did with the whole being intangible thing was easy to fix. A few cleverly designed and placed seals and he'd have the sucker right where he wanted him. It was rather easy to understand why the Uzumaki were so feared and had been destroyed. After all, bloodlines meant nothing in the face of a genius seal master. If he so wanted he could seal away those precious Sharingan.

If he so wanted.

Another thing to consider was Pein. The man would no doubt come after Naruto. It would be impossible for him to not know of these events. In fact Naruto wouldn't be surprised if Zetsu was hanging around somewhere.

However, that led to the question of what to do with Pein now. The man was powerful, had many useful qualities but he was also hunting down the jinchuriki, hunting down Naruto.

Yet he was merely a puppet of the circumstances they found themselves to be in. What would his reaction be should he learn that Tobi was nothing but a brat throwing a tantrum?

Either way, priority number one now became taking care of Tobi and dissuading Pein from his path of war. Dissuading Pein was a necessity, otherwise he'd have to deal with the Akatsuki trying and failing to hunt him down even if they suddenly found themselves short three members. Itachi wasn't likely to go back and finding replacements for Deidera and Sasori would not be easy.

Back to his original plan.

Sasuke's dreams. He'd wanted to crush them, to make sure Sasuke never achieved anything. That had started with Itachi, the innocent but hardly guiltless older brother.

Now that Sasuke didn't have that dream anymore what was his new dream?

Perhaps to bring Naruto back to the Leaf. That made sense. And he had mentioned something about it to Menma. It was rather simple then, to take care of that promise he'd made to himself.

All he had to do, to make sure Sasuke never achieved that dream, was to stay away. He would never go back to Team 7. It just couldn't work. Things would be different and there would be nothing they could do to stop that. That's just the way it was.

Would he protect the Leaf? Did he feel that way about Konoha?

He honestly wasn't sure. It was, after all, the village his parents had died protecting. His father had seen something in Konoha, a purpose, otherwise he wouldn't have given his only son and his life to save it.

No . . . he wouldn't return.

Haunted blue eyes flashed through his mind.

Namikaze Minato. A man praised, even somewhat reluctantly, in every hidden village. He also happened to be Naruto's father. This was a revelation he hadn't really given himself much time to reflect upon. He's recognised it, been shocked by it and had even been inspired to be greater than what he was at that moment, but he'd never asked himself how that made him feel.

_So, Naruto, how does it feel to have the Yondaime as your father? _

Not damn much, all things considered. He never knew much of the man other than what he could glean from others and those others were merely Shinobi from other villages, not Konoha where the people had known him best.

But clearly not well enough if they couldn't see the man's son living right under their noses. Or perhaps they didn't want to.

But hey, let bygones be bygones. Sheep of the circumstances. He wouldn't crucify them for their own stupidity. Hopefully, their stupidity would take care of them for him.

As for the Yondaime. Naruto couldn't deny the logic in the man's plan. He knew and understood exactly what he'd been doing when he'd seal the Kyuubi within his own son. He'd only been more than a little naïve in his expectations of how Naruto would be treated because of it. The only thing neither Naruto nor the Kyuubi could ever understand was why he only sealed half. Would that make the chakra easier to control? Or had he had some other plan.

Either way, sealing the Kyuubi into Naruto so that he could have the power to defeat Tobi, that was actually a pretty believable tale. So perhaps he could see the man as a father, like he'd told him inside his mindscape.

It wasn't like he'd condemned the man before that meeting; he hadn't really connected the Yondaime and father into the same person.

He hadn't actually known how angry he'd been about it until he'd seen the man in person... well sort of in person. Still, he wished that Minato hadn't been so damn self righteous. Hokage should be allowed to have families. In the end, they were the ones that got the short end of the stick. Just look at Konohamaru. Not that the kid had had a terrible life, just one of un-acknowledgement for his own individuality. Sort of like a jinchuriki. It was no wonder Asuma didn't advertise that he was the son of the Third.

But he was getting way off track here.

Back to Tobi then.

An interesting aspect to consider was the fact that Kakashi, Sasuke and Itachi all had some sort of reason to hate Tobi. Kakashi was because the man was actually Obito and Sasuke and Itachi was because of the Uchiha clan blunder.

He chuckled at the thought of teleporting the four into a sealed room and leaving them to sort it out for themselves. Who would come out alive in that situation? Perhaps all of them, perhaps none. Sasuke still had some anger to vent at Itachi, no matter how calm and collected he'd been around the older Uchiha. Who wouldn't at least want to have one good session of spars with the object of their long standing hatred?

So would it be to his advantage to let the situation sort itself out like that?

He'd lose out on the opportunity to kill Tobi himself.

His frown deepened further when he remember in a sort of offhand way that Orochimaru was still lurking about, his curse seal still tainting Sasuke's body. It wasn't much fun tormenting Sasuke when Orochimaru was lurking around out there looking for an opportunity to strike, and Sasuke just might grow desperate enough to go to him.

Then again he might seek help from Itachi.

But Naruto wasn't taking any chances. After he sorted out Tobi and Pein he was going to take a crack at Orochimaru, test that supposed immortality of his. He almost grinned at the thought.

Without realising it, Naruto had begun to mutter to himself, stating possible attack combinations and seal designs that could achieve that which he was setting out to accomplish. He didn't much care though. It wasn't as though anyone could hear him and it wasn't as though there was anything they could do to stop him anyway.

He was still ignoring the Shinobi outside the barrier, having not yet finished reorganising his priorities.

The seals, his plans to annihilate all Shinobi, that was going to have to wait for now. He wouldn't remove the seals, he wouldn't activate the jutsu either . . . for now.

No, he wasn't staying in the Leaf and he was probably leaning towards protecting it, merely because Konoha was his stomping ground and no one else's. Which in turn meant that Orochimaru and the Akatsuki were definitely going to have to be dealt with because both would like nothing more than to see Konoha burn but that decision was fine by him considering he was planning on taking them out anyways.

He would also need to visit the other hidden villages, the ones currently planning on attacking. It wouldn't do for some lucky shot to kill Sasuke and take away his fun.

That all being thought upon, the blond nodded to himself once, satisfied with the decisions he had made and the course he had set his new plans upon before getting to his feet and stretching his limbs with a mewl of pleasure.

Shaking out his shoulders, the Uzumaki smirked to himself as he took the saner option of studying the barrier that now surrounded him rather than attacking it mindlessly. That had been a foolish thing to do but he never would have heard his father's words until it had been too late if he hadn't lost his cool like that, so it wasn't all bad.

The barrier, it seemed, was dependent upon Jiraiya and his ability to maintain it. That being said, Naruto found himself impressed at the Sannin's ability to contain the Kyuubi's power for as long as he had. The toll however, must have been staggering.

He also knew that it was only a slight matter of patience now. Jiraiya would tire soon and Naruto would walk away before a new barrier could be erected. Besides, he doubted anyone had the power that Jiraiya possessed. They would not be able to hold him.

Moving to the centre, where the barrier would start to break down first, Naruto turned his gaze on the sannin, not saying a word, not even blinking.

Now all he had to do was wait.

"What are you going to do now?" Sasuke asked coolly, approaching the barrier. Naruto very nearly smirked when he thought of the Uchiha's misguided assumption that Naruto would actually answer him. Then again, Naruto had been pretty free with his information thus far so perhaps it was slightly justified.

So he sent the Uchiha a cold glare before replying in short clipped sentences. "The Akatsuki. I'm going to stop Pein's plans for war. Get's him off my back. I'm going to have fun with Tobi. And I haven't decided yet if I'm going to introduce _you_ to him." He paused. "The idea certainly has its merits."

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Itachi asked, his tone conveying no emotion at all. A habit perhaps? Or merely the way Itachi always was?

Naruto finally allowed his gaze to travel away from the Toad Sage who slumped slightly in relief before scoffing at Itachi. "Something more important came up." He replied in a dry tone, thinking that the irony of the matter being what could possibly be more important that killing all Shinobi? But they wouldn't understand.

How could they?

"Are you going to stay in Konoha?" Kakashi asked, his tone conveying a deep sadness that showed that perhaps Kakashi did understand Naruto's pain. The jonin had definitely had his fair share of it. "What I meant is, are you going to come back?"

Naruto looked at the man that had been his father's student and wondered where he'd been before Naruto had been placed on his team. Then he found himself wondering if just because a Shinobi was another Shinobi's student or even teacher, did that make them obligated to the family members left behind. Would he really look after Kakashi's sensei's kid if the jonin just so happened to have one but died before being able to raise the brat himself?

Strangely enough, the idea was appealing to him. Do his best to corrupt the next generation. And besides, any kid of Kakashi's was sure to be interesting.

To reply to the jonin's question he shook his head, slightly annoyed by it in the first place. "I'll never be able to call Konoha 'home' ever again. Also, my goals reach beyond this village, go further than these walls." He smirked in pure arrogance. "Why be tied down to a single village when I have the entire Shinobi nation within the palm of my hand?"

Silence replied to his somewhat rhetorical question before it was broken by Sasuke.

"The seal, what do you plan to do about that?" he asked, almost quietly, close to actually showing real emotion . Naruto studied him for a moment and saw that a new sort of understanding burned within the Uchiha's eyes. Ah so perhaps there was hope for Sasuke yet. But Sasuke wasn't finished. "Will you remove them or will you activate them?"

"Those seals were not placed where they are simply because it's the most efficient way to kill a Shinobi. I mean, I started out with the idea of sealing away everyone's chakra but they could always train the civilians to use chakra and that would defeat the purpose of the lesson. I then decided to kill them and wondered what would be the best way to go about it." Naruto's tone had taken on the same flowing quality from before, that oddly soothing lilt that instantly got him an undivided audience.

"There were the lethal points, the kill points if you will. But placing the seal upon the heart had a sort of poetic ring to it, don't you think? So that your hearts could be just as frozen as mine." He paused and looked down before smiling the softest smile, an almost sweet smile of loving warmth. It was destroyed with his next words. "Do you know, I can activate any one of them at will? I won't remove them. I think I'm going to leave them there as a constant reminder, a reminder of all Shinobi's mistakes, not just the Leaf. Mistakes such as creating jinchuriki in the first place and then treating them like you have after placing such a burden on them. Being a jinchuriki is beyond our control, it's not something I asked for and I doubt any of the others did either . . . and if they did, then they didn't know what they were getting into . . . Now we have something in common. Just like I have no control over being a jinchuriki, you have no control over that seal."

Naruto took a moment to look at those that had surrounded the barrier, those that had decided to bring him home after he had left. These were his comrades, the ones that had never truly accepted his departure.

Not one of them could look him in the eye, least of all the fifth Hokage of Konoha. It was almost laughable. But he would not lower himself to disrespecting them like that. They were powerful in their own right and he did respect them, he just didn't count them as precious enough to stay with.

"What about me?" Konohamaru asked quietly, his tone sounding choked. "Did our bond mean nothing to you?"

Ah the little Sarutobi, forever an enigma to Naruto.

What was it about the brat that drew Naruto in? What the hell did he see in Konohamaru that made it so hard to ignore him?

Naruto sighed slightly before looking away from that demanding gaze, sharp enough to remind him of the Sandaime. "You were perhaps the only one that never treated me any differently for what I was because you understood what it meant to be seen as something out of your control. You were also too young to be influenced by the adults' fear of the Kyuubi within me." Naruto paused for a moment, before continuing, "It was because of that understanding, this bond of ours, that I chose you to be my student. There are after all, many other ways to gain entrance to the Leaf."

Naruto returned his gaze to the Sarutobi chunin and a soft, genuine smile tugged at his lips before he said "Maybe one day I'll teach you how to use that sword."

The moment was shattered by Sakura angrily crossing her arms and sending a glare at Naruto before demanding, "What would it take to bring you home? Isn't there anything we can do that would make you stay?"

A rather funny way to ask. Her anger was odd to Naruto and he wondered why she had it. Hadn't she always been all about Sasuke? But her question was no doubt one that many wanted the answer to and he actually thought this one through before simply blurting out a reply.

"The question, Sakura, isn't if I'll stay or what you can do to make me stay, it's more a case of what happens afterwards. What would happen after I chose to stay, should I ever choose to do so? Would I be allowed the freedom to roam as I pleased? Would I be asked to teach a genin team? Would I be asked to go into ANBU? Would I be interrogated for my knowledge, the secret of my power? Would Danzo lock me away, only to be used as a weapon?" Naruto replied, his tone thoughtful as though inviting the pink haired kunoichi to join him in the conversation. "Whatever happens, we both know it could never be like it was. There's just too much between now and then."

Tsunade hesitantly stepped forward, as though afraid her presence would upset Naruto. After all, it was ultimately her words, her drunken misguided words, that had pushed the boy over the edge. An edge that she now realised that Sarutobi-sensei had been keeping the blond very far away from. Well at a somewhat reasonable distance.

"Naruto, you would be allowed to do whatever you pleased so long as it complied with the rules of your rank. We would ask you to teach a genin team and it would be your decision to make. We would even ask you about your knowledge and power but we would not force you to answer it. That would be yours to decide. You're also too powerful to be contained, too unique. I'd never allow Danzo to even think he could use you as a weapon. You'd be the master of your own fate."

Naruto watched the Hokage silently, taking note of the cautious pain and regret within her eyes.

He smirked. "And how, dear Princess Tsunade, is that any different from the life I'm living now?"

"In the Leaf you have a family." Iruka suddenly answered, cheeks burning with the sudden attention he was receiving but his eyes were determined. "Out there, you're still alone."

The crux of the matter. Naruto's true weakness.

Trust the chunin sensei to point it out.

The barrier lowered and Naruto found himself wondering if that was because Jiraiya was tired or because he was doing it as a sign of good faith. He wouldn't be surprised by either at this point.

He was perfectly aware that he was free to leave at any moment now, but Iruka's words had hit a nerve. They might even prove that he was always destined to gravitate towards the Leaf, never truly being free from its grasp.

There really was no other village like it.

He didn't reply to the chunin, looking instead to the clouds. They were beginning to blaze with a golden glow of warmth as the sun peeked over the horizon, still new enough to look directly at without hurting one's eyes. He'd learnt something on this path of revenge, something he doubted Sasuke had ever gotten the chance to discover on his own path to avenge his clan's death . . . revenge was anything but blank and white and he never would get a clear answer. There were too many sides to everyone's stories, too many influencing factors. Obito after all was merely a victim of circumstance as well. The Third Shinobi War to be exact.

What set them apart, what made the world of difference, was the choices one made after becoming a victim of the things out of their control. Obito _chose_ to be _Tobi_ and that made him accountable.

And Konoha? Tsunade, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Sakura, Iruka and Sasuke? Were they 'family' as Iruka put it?

Perhaps . . . . .

But he still had things he needed to do. Tobi, the Akatsuki, the other hidden villages, Orochimaru . . . those were issues that weren't going to sort themselves out. Tobi was still number one on that list.

"_Still, I say you should stay. When the Akatsuki are dealt with I think you should stay." Konohamaru said very quietly._

A memory from his time as Menma.

"_It's not that easy kiddo. I've gone too far down a path that doesn't have any way back. I've walked into the darkness willingly, knowing that there wasn't anyone to pull me back in time to save me. I just hope that you don't follow me. So I'll say this, Konohamaru, give up on Naruto. I know things about him that you do not. Be happy and strive to be Hokage. Pass on your secrets to the next generation before you die and always, always, remember to protect your precious people."_

Menma had known what he was. He knew that Naruto would never stay and that he was effectively setting the Leaf up for failure. His words to Konohamaru were actually good ones to follow. Something that perhaps he should take to heart after he'd finished with everything that he wanted to accomplish.

Naruto turned away from the waiting eyes, the expectant expressions, having still not answered Iruka's statement. He began to gather his chakra for a teleportation but Sasuke's voice stopped him only long enough for him to hear the questions and give the answer he felt best suited the situation and the person asking.

"How were you able to stay hidden for so long, to disappear in the first place? Where did you go?"

The blond grinned before giving Sasuke a smirk over his shoulder and replying, "Life wouldn't be as much fun if I told you the answer to that now would it?"

Then he was gone, disappearing in a swirl of shadows.

Staring out at the village, watching as the normal daily activities slowly progressed, Naruto found himself wondering yet again . . .

Would he protect the Leaf? Did he feel that way about Konoha?

He still honestly wasn't sure. This was, after all, the village his parents had died protecting. His father had seen something in Konoha, a purpose, otherwise he wouldn't have given his only son and his life to save it.

No . . . he wouldn't return.

But he'd protect it, if he so desired.

And in doing so he honoured his father's last request and his own personal ambitions, which, he thought with a feral grin as he walked away from the sight of the Hokage Monument, was whatever the hell he wanted.

After he dealt with Tobi.

With a small smile, he sent a scribbled note towards the Hokage tower, a tiny slip of paper that held only a single sentence.

_Itachi makes the better Hokage anyway._

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**NO I DO NOT COUNT THIS AS A HAPPY ENDING! If you disagree, what's happy about it?**

**Naruto is no longer on a course for getting revenge from Sasuke so any continuation of this fic would be an entirely different fic with a different purpose. **

**That being said, I apologise to those who really wanted the Leaf's head on a stake. Sorry for the disappointment. I hope you enjoyed the relatively short ending all the same. **


	16. Will there be a Sequel?

**PLEASE READ!**

**I lot of people have asked if there will be a sequel. **

**I'll answer that in a minute. Firstly, the most honest reason this particular fic was ended so abruptly in some instances is because I hate long fics, and to a much larger extent, I will be in and out of writing exams until November. Which means updates will be extremely slow, if any at all until the end of or at least the middle of November. **

**Now will there be a sequel?**

**As it stands I feel that the story can possibly be left as complete but me being me and I hate being left to wonder. I feel that it can also be continued as well.**

**I have yet to write out the full plan of one and I have the ideas but I do have an interest in writing one. If I should go down this route, I will not only be writing the sequel but the prequel as well, answering that all elusive question of 'where did Naruto go?'**

**Otherwise, it's tests for me, and hardly any updates for you. 'Tests' was the wrong word. No, it more like exams of hell. It is my final year after all so they have to be somewhat decent. **

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**Now since one is not allowed to post merely Author's notes as chapters, enjoy a silly little one shot that has absolutely no meaning to the story whatsoever. Beta-ed by Jenny-Cat-Miaow of course. **

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**Once off warning**

Hatake Kakashi was happily ignoring the Sandaime's latest tirade of whatever it was he was going on about. He wasn't too sure if it was even important and he hardly cared. Someone would inform him of anything particularly important sometime later, after he'd finished the latest book of the Icha Icha series, (what else?), which was the whole reason he was ignoring the Sandaime in the first place.

He was receiving some unhappy looks, some disapproving looks, some baffled looks, some awed looks, and his favourite; the envious looks as he blatantly giggled at the rather pervy bits, letting the Hokage know that he wasn't listening so he shouldn't expect Kakashi to be aware of any of the events currently being discussed.

However, all the participants of this meeting looked to the Hatake in shock when the day-glow orange book fell from suddenly lax fingers. The Hokage's voice trailed off as Kakashi drew in a gasp of air – a gasp every person in the room knew far too well. It was the gasp of a ninja in pain and a ninja doing their very best not to scream.

"Check him, now!" The Sandaime ordered gruffly, swiftly taking hold of the situation and trying to keep those within the room calm. After all, an ANBU meeting was not a place to have panic. Kakashi's pain could be related to any number of things, his being in ANBU only one of them. It could have been an injury from a mission or it could have been an assassination attempt. Either was highly possible.

"Hatake, report the problem." One ANBU stated tonelessly, trying to get the panting Shinobi to say something, do anything that would indicate the origin of his injury but it was as though the Hatake was gone from the physical world, all his thoughts focused on the pain and on not vocalising that agony in any way.

The 'injury' was made painfully obvious when blood leaked through the headband slanted over Kakashi's head, oozing around the metal plate and soaking into the mask.

A medic ANBU yanked the headband off, taking in Kakashi's wide eyed expression, noting that he truly wasn't with them mentally.

The now exposed Sharingan eye was spinning wildly, swirling round and around so sickeningly fast that it looked like a black ring within the blood red.

As they watched, the usual three tomoe changed, shifting into a different form. Shisui was called forward, asked to identify what the problem was and yet the poor Uchiha was stunned.

"I can't say if it's a jutsu activating or if his body has finally decided to reject the Sharingan." Shisui uttered in a stunned tone. He _didn't_ say that this was the Mangekyou Sharingan they were witnessing and found himself wondering just how long Hatake had been in possession of such a powerful tool thought only to be a legend even among the Uchiha themselves.

Finally Kakashi's stiff posture and wide eyed expression changed. He yelped before bringing a hand to his bleeding eye and hissing. His body jerk forward, almost bending over itself as the Shinobi tried to slow his racing heart and his frantic breaths. The fact that he'd yelped at all was testament of the pain he was currently experiencing.

What Kakashi didn't show those in the room was the little scroll he'd caught after it had fallen of the air, having been pulled into the room by the Sharingan that was now no longer in its Mangekyou form.

Tucking it away before anyone could notice Kakashi straightened, wiping the blood from the exposed area of his face only to be met with anxious and expectant expressions.

"Hokage-sama, I wish to request a mission." Kakashi stated simply, ignoring the orange book still on the floor at his feet.

"B-but Kakashi-kun, what just happened?" The Sandaime stuttered.

"Enlightenment. Now may I have my mission or not?" Kakashi replied in a tone that better suited the dead.

"Kakashi-kun, you're not making any sense. What mission?" Sarutobi was getting rather annoyed now. His old heart could not take these types of scares anymore. To make matters worse, Kakashi appeared to have gone bonkers.

"A mission to kill Uchiha Obito." Kakashi replied in a perfectly serious tone.

His request was met with a swift blow to the back of his head.

"Well I always knew he was crazy but this is taking it too far. A request to kill someone who's already dead? That's just crazy. I knew those books would get him in the end." One ANBU whispered to another, as they watched the unconscious form of their fellow Shinobi and not to mention their Captain.

"No." Shisui stated suddenly, going over to Kakashi and lifting the scarred eyelid that covered the Sharingan. "There's something more to this. Enlightenment. That's what he said. Sharingan are known to, as he put it, create enlightenment. Only it's usually on Justus."

Shisui ignored those around him and those that wanted to drag Hatake away to some secure location where he could be assessed. He swiftly tied the unconscious ninja up, making sure there was no way he was getting free before he used a water jutsu to rather rudely wake the Shinobi up.

He gave Shisui a baleful stare, but otherwise sat as still as a stone. He didn't look to anyone else in the room, merely at Shisui.

"You're the first one that dies." Kakashi eventually stated in a perfectly even tone. "The first one that he kills."

"Care to elaborate?" Shisui asked, not at all concerned about the words.

"Can I have my mission to kill Obito?" Kakashi countered.

"Uchiha Obito is dead." Shisui stated with conviction.

"No. He's in Kiri. And I plan to track his ass down and drag him all the way to Konoha and have him executed for murdering my sensei."

Kakashi's statement was met with an uproar of noise. ANBU might be the best in the village but they were human just as the rest of the world and they were hardly any less of a bunch of gossips.

"This is something that relates to the night the Kyuubi attacked, isn't it?" Sarutobi asked quietly, merely observing for now. Shisui seemed convinced that this wasn't a case of a ninja gone insane.

"Hai. Sensei was fighting someone else when the Kyuubi was in the village. That's why he took so long to get to the Kyuubi. He was fighting Obito, only Obito was wearing a mask at the time. He was the one to kill the guards and Kushina-chan's midwives." Kakashi answered curtly. "He was the one that set the Kyuubi loose. The Uchiha, here in the village, they are innocent."

"How do you know this?" Sarutobi asked. It was a reasonable question.

"I told me so." Kakashi answered with a short sharp nod.

"You told you so?" This was from Shisui.

"Hai." Kakashi then did some spectacular wiggling which enabled him to get free from his bounds and created a shadow clone.

The clone henged into someone that actually looked just like him, only older and then began to speak.

"Listen once, and listen well. This is a once off warning Kakashi so don't screw up. I'm going to give you the rundown of the events to pass over the next two decades or so and it's up to you to make sure it doesn't happen. I don't care how you do it and I don't care who you tell, just don't fuck up. I'm using my life to send this message so you better make it count." The clone had taken on a no nonsense attitude, a tone that screamed 'no interrupting'. "I'm hoping this message gets to you before the shit really starts going downhill since sensei's death is really nothing in comparison to how things happen later on. I wish I could have sent this to you before Obito 'died' but this message is only possible with the Sharingan. This warning starts with the night the Kyuubi attacked . . . . . ."

They listened is stunned silence and awed disbelief as Kakashi's clone began to map out the gruesome events of their future.

It would be a rather simple matter to merely disregard this as a hallucination, but it would also a relatively simple task to confirm what had been said. For one thing, Shisui had gone extremely pale and had had to abruptly sit down when the events of the Uchiha coup and massacre was revealed.

It was also a pathetically easy task to call for Jiraiya and ask him to confirm certain information that Kakashi couldn't have known otherwise.

The fact that Uzumaki Naruto would actually grow up to be an astoundingly powerful Shinobi, one that was only more so when paired with Uchiha Sasuke, in terms of well, everything from jutsu to strategy, was a fact many found really hard to swallow.

There were many stressed points that both would need a firm hand to guide them and their peers in order to bring out their potential to the fullest, but it was a task well worth the end results.

Names like Haruno Sakura was added to the mix as well as Rock Lee. This Kakashi clone, this apparent warning from the future, told them of many things, talking for far longer than what Kakashi had been unresponsive for, but the mind perceived things far faster than the eyes did.

Chunin exams and Orochimaru. Spies and allies. All the things spoken about sounding like a nightmare and a blessing. The fact that a lot of attention was placed on Uzumaki and his Uchiha companion was not missed.

Neither was the fact that this Kakashi clone seemed to really come down hard on Kakashi for his failures. He really emphasised the fact that he hadn't done very well by his students and that they had paid the price for it.

While Kakashi wasn't guilty of much more than neglecting his students, this neglect had led to Sasuke leaving, Naruto becoming obsessed with bringing him back and a variety of other problems that has stemmed from those two points alone.

Years after the event none of the other villages, none of the ninja that encountered the Konoha ninja after the once off warning from Hatake Kakashi could understand how they knew what was happening and when it was happening.

Orochimaru was still trying to figure out how all his little plans and projects had been discovered and how he had ended up in a thousand year prison seal with no foreseeable way out, the room's only other occupant being an Uchiha that had previously been thought to be dead. The Uchiha was likely mocking him, since it had been his latest project to try and gain those eyes for himself, but this Uchiha would have none of it.

The Akatsuki leader suddenly found himself with an unwanted visit from a man whom he still called sensei, and a man that had immediately wrapped him in a hug and began to blabber on about pain and growing up and how sometimes even adults needed to lean on each other. When Nagato persisted in his ideas for a better future and continued to insist he was a God found himself in a locked room, chakra suppressants on every available surface and facing a man called Yamanka Inoichi who would constantly ask him "And how do you feel about that?"

The other members of the Akatsuki, not that there were many at this point, were swiftly rounded up and returned to their respective villages.

Suna in particular was happy to have Sasori back and those grins turned only more cynical when they mentioned that Sasori might know a thing or two about what had happened to their Third Kazekage.

In the years that followed, Konoha's ninja forces grew into an exceptional generation who were hard pressed to find their equals. In particular, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke took it upon themselves to unite the ninja nations under one headband, even offering to forgo the Konoha Leaf spiral in exchange for an entirely new one.

When the Kage of the villages protested to this union, the two promptly showed everyone that anyone who was breathing was only doing so because they were being nice and allowing them to. That's not to say they killed anyone; they merely showed them who was boss.

The only other ninja that hoped to stand a chance against the two were Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Shisui, Hatake Kakashi, Gaara and Haruno Sakura, but since all of these ninja agreed with Sasuke and Naruto so they weren't inclined to do anything about their behaviour.

There were times where odd things happened, things no one wanted to even try and justify, like how Team 7 let Zabuza and his accomplice live, even offering to let them join Konoha's ranks. Or when Konoha as a whole suddenly rose up and swept through Kiri where they ended the civil war and aided those that had been affected by it.

Any attempt to attack Konoha was not successful, the entire village on some kind of super charged hyper awareness.

In the end, the respective Kage were allowed to keep ruling over their villages but only because Naruto and Sasuke couldn't be everywhere at once. The only difference was that the villages were all under the same banner.

They all wore the same headband, and called themselves the Allied Shinobi Nations.

Kakashi, on a completely unrelated note, took great delight in finding a certain orange masked ninja calling himself Uchiha Madara and cheerfully tearing him limb for limb before beating the nin with his own limbs. How he managed to stick the infamously intangible ninja in one place? He merely waited for him in his own domain, the dimension they both shared via their Mangekyou Sharingan. After getting him there it was a simply matter of using the seal placed within the scroll that had been given to Kakashi by his older self.

The seal stopped Tobi leaving and Kakashi happily reminded him exactly why it was a bad idea to murder your own sensei, especially if that sensei happened to be Hatake Kakashi's as well.

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**Hope to see you all soon. That is if I survive the next few months. DX**


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